The only drama on Signing Day for Notre Dame came in the form of a potential last minute flip of 4-star safety/linebacker Asa Turner. The Washington commit who Notre Dame has been recruiting since his commitment was scheduled to sign yesterday before he announced he needed more time to decide. That apparently didn’t sit well with Washington head coach Chris Petersen who went on a mini rant Wednesday about the “vultures” of college football recruiting while seemingly forgetting he and his staff did the same thing last year.
According to the Seattle Times, Petersen had this to say Wednesday. “And I think as the recruiting situation has — I’m trying to think of the right words — gotten worse, it can be painful. The vultures and the lowdown tactics that (are) going on behind closed doors — now I think about it a little bit more than I did.”
Petersen didn’t stop there though. He dug in and implied that Washington doesn’t keep recruiting kids committed elsewhere.
“We just operate such a different way, so when it happens to the guys that have been committed to us — why would you be calling those kids? They’ve been committed to us forever. But they do. And they’re sending texts and doing all this stuff just to see if there’s any slight change (of a change of heart), and if there is — look out.”
Guess what though? Washington DOES in fact recruit kids committed elsewhere. In their class of 2018, they had 3 players who had been committed to other schools land in their final class.
The best example of this is defensive tackle Tuli Letuligasenoa from California. He had committed to USC in April of 2017 and didn’t visit any other schools after that commitment. That is, until he visited Washington in February of 2018. He flipped to Washington two days before signing day. Something tells me Petersen didn’t mind that his staff were the vultures in that case.
Colson Yankoff and Devin Culp were also both committed to Oregon at one time during the 2018 recruiting cycle before flipping to Washington as well.
What’s interesting about Petersen complaining about this is that it has not been a secret AT ALL that Notre Dame has continued to recruit Turner. Heck, there were pictures of Brian Polian on Twitter at a Carlsbad HS game in November when Notre Dame was in San Diego to face off against Navy. Numerous articles had been written about how Notre Dame was continuing to recruit Turner and how the Irish had a very real chance of flipping him.
With all of that out in the open, complaining about potentially losing a recruiting battle by calling the other staff “vultures” is just a tad ridiculous. And that is the funniest part about this, Petersen hasn’t even lost this recruiting battle yet. Turner is still reportedly torn between Notre Dame and Washington and as of Wednesday morning, he has yet to make a formal announcement as to where he will be playing college football.
Notre Dame has come up on the wrong side of these in the past so it’s understandable to be upset. Remember when Notre Dame lost Deontay Greenberry to Houston at the 11th hour in 2012? Or when both Chris and Greg Little, who weren’t related, flipped on Signing Day out of nowhere? In those cases the flips were borderline shocking. In this case though, no one was surprised that Notre Dame was still in this race.
If Washington ultimately loses out on Turner and he signs with Notre Dame, they will have no one to blame but themselves. It was well known that the Irish were still active in this recruitment. Petersen can throw all the shots he wants at the Notre Dame staff in the process, but instead he should be asking his staff why they weren’t able to keep another team out when they previously secured a commitment.
Without full details, I believe Peterson is talking about under armour and the vultures that surround that entity. Asa’s HS coach is trying to work stuff out with some UA tournaments and is a big reason for pushing Norte Dame on Asa. Not that he wouldn’t be interested but that’s my understanding of the vultures comment. Baseless accusations and all…
So…money. Imagine that.
College football is a very big entertainment business. Made even bigger by being tax-free, and by using volunteer labor.
So…spoiler alert….it is corrupt. Bad things go on.
Including some naive kids being manipulated, and some manipulative kids turning the tables.
Take off your blinders, put on your big boy pants, and face the day.
Proud Irish? All I’m hearing is lot of angry vitriol
from some Irish fans that are very adept at spewing hate.
I wish you all well, though class proved most lacking
from any of you after reading your self-aggrandizing.
Rudy proud, I think not!
Maybe the real reason why Peterson and
all these Husky Trolls are really mad is
Because of UW’s record against the Irish…0-8
Couldn’t you at least spell Chris Petersen’s name correctly? Must be Notre Dame dropouts writing for this rag.
Petersen, Schmetersen, what’s important is the 0-8 record. I’d be more worried about getting a Coach who can change that, than spelling his name right, douchebag…
Brian Kelly is a joke…with the talent he should be getting to take this long?!? Notre Dame will get destroyed by Clemson anyways…turner will be in Seattle, the Huskies will beat Ohio state and you all can go back to reminiscing about the Rudy years.
GO back to your own pathetic website, maybe your team will score a point in there bowl game this year!! OHIO STATE will beat your ass like every other team you play outside that trash conference!! OBTW YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED YOUR FIRST SENTENCE DOPE!!
Idiotic article. In all of those cases mentioned, the player had a scheduled visit. That they chose to keep. It was through their visit they chose to commit. It is well known that Chris Peterson does not actively recruit committed players unless they reach out.
So he does recruit committed players. Thank you for confirming his hypocrisy in this matter.
Petersen doesn’t recruit commited players. Really! In 2017 he flipped 5* LB Ale Kaho, who was committed to BYU for a long time, to Washington. The hypocrisy is deep with Petersen..
I hope the Irish are blown out. Funny, I used to like and respect Notre Dame.
I hope the huskies are blown out!! FUNNY I never respected Washington, there always crying about something jimbo!!!
So now you just like and respect your sister?
Anyone with that mentality will always be a loser. Go Irish!
My father told me that early in Ara’s era a few of our players drove up to East Lansing and convinced a guy who was about to enroll and play for Duffy to ride back to South Bend and play for ND! Dad didn’t say any names, so I don’t know if was true. but recruiting has always been hard nosed as long as I remember. Isn’t it a fact that NAVY and ND both fiercely recruited our best linebacker ever (IMO)…later a National Champion co-captain and NFL Super Bowl Champion? This isn’t supposed to be news, or “new”, is it?
BGC ’77 ’82
The Irish will get smoked by Clemson. Who did the Irish beat? Dawgs will be just fine moving forward. With Jacob Eason under center next yr and all receivers returning with all american LT adams, UW will be a tough out. Plus, the schedule is favorable for a run. All challenging games at g
home. 18 yo kids will change their mind. Pete shouldn’t worry about it and chalk it up to being an 18 yo. Dbs at UW get drafted high in the NFL thanks to Jimmy.
YEAH wait till next year lil ricky, 3 losses this year against that candyass schedule is pathetic!! next years schedule doesn’t have 1 top15 team on it wow that’s bold!! I guess playing and losing to 7-5 AUBURN will keep you running away from the SEC for the next 25 years!!! Sidney jones gets burned more than the toast at a diner, when he’s not faking another injury!!!
Wow , sour grapes Coach Peterson. Where would your program be –and Oregon’s without your roster filled with recruits from California. I hope Asa Turner flips to the 12-0 Irish who are on the big stage in final four , while Washington Huskies wallow away in the PAC 12 next few years. Irish program is trending up on D — recruits who play D are taking notice. This 2019 haul confirms that. I can’t wait till spring when the battle for positions becomes fierce in area of linebackers , D-backs , running backs. I can’t rule out Shaun Crawfords–a 5th year senior — nor incoming freshman Kyler Hamilton–he’s that good. Alohi Gilman is only lock — akin to Love in D backfield was last spring. The front four on D lose Tillery and Bonner—but if the DE’s all return Irish are in good shape. Yes , Tillery/Bonner were instrumental — but it was the DE’s that made Irish one of best in nation. Finally — there is one other battle that will come about next spring—the QB position between Book and Jurkovic. How good is Jurkovic ? We’ll see. I’m jumping the gun here on next season — before the Irish play Clemson in Semi Finals –and hoping the Irish reach title game. Thing is — no matter what the outcome — Irish went 12-0 and if they continue to progress into winning seasons of 11/12 wins —they will be among the elite of college football programs and in the running for playoffs every year — not just once in a blue moon.
That was the end game to this “rearrange-the-deck-chairs” gambit anyway…from the start. At the time I wrote that it seemed unlikely to work…and would never work anywhere else, but, and I quote myself here, “if it could ever work, it would be at Notre Dame.” And even if we do not go undefeated this year, I see us winning it in 2020.
BGC ’77 ’82
Over the years imho Notredame has played too nice. Look at what a cut throat Urban Meyer was. When he first went to Ohio State he poached Other big ten teams
They complained. Didn’t deter him one bit. Look who dominates the big ten every year . THE OHIO State. Do you want to be Michigan State every year or Alabama Clemson Ohio State Oklahoma
Everyone seems to call out Tuli Letuligasenoa flipping, but no one does any actual research. If the player reaches out to a coach about wanting to take a visit while committed to another school that is a bit different than coaches continuing to call, text, go to games, etc after a player has committed. Both Culp and Yankoff were recruited and committed to Helfrich who was fired by Oregon. They then reopened their recruitment after the coach they committed to was let go. Very different. Stop being so salty that your coaches are messing with the minds teenagers and, as a news outlet, do some research before posting articles with misleading statements.
Pretty sure that the Notre Dame coaches haven’t been asked to stopped recruiting Turner by the recruit or the family. This whole “messing with the minds of teenagers” is ridiculous. If they were told to stop, they would have. Bottom line is if a recruit is open to being recruited by a coaching staff, they shouldn’t back off.
So making a commitment to a school and saying you are closing your recruitment isn’t enough for a kid to say? They now have to block the numbers of the coaches to stop continual recruitment? I would say making a verbal commitment to the school and closing down your recruitment is when the coaches should stop. Guess the word “committed” doesn’t mean the same thing at ND as it does to most other people. These kids can’t sign on the dotted line until the National Signing Day, so all they can do is verbally shut down recruitment. Not sure if you saw, but over the summer Asa verbally committed to UW which is all he can do at that point in time to tell coaches to stop calling. Unless, again, you need the kids to shut down their social media and turn their phone off.
Lenny Vandermaede comes to mind. He was SIGNED, SEALED to Notre Dame. BK did the gentlemanly thing and let Him out. Its like the Military or Marriage. Until the oath is taken they are open game. My Sisters were in Wedding invitation business. The Bride or Brides Mother signed off on the order, that no changes could be made. One girl pleaded to make a change. She wanted to change the name of the groom. Luckily the printer didn’t start and an exception was granted.
The reason ND has WIMBUSH was because BAMA flipped BLANKENSHIP 3 weeks b4 NATL SIGNING DAY!! This happens all the time, instead of crying Peterson should be reaching out to ASA and not bad mouthing someone else!! 3 losses in a weak conference hasn’t helped PETERSONS recruiting much either!!!
Typical ignorant sports fan response: If it hurts my team it is low down, If it helps my team (ala TL) here are all the reasons it’s justified. Truth is, 100’s of kids are flipped every year because they don’t shut down recruitment. IF the kids do not want another school to come calling, they just have to say so and the school will stop. Asa wants this. PERIOD. Greg and coach need to stop being a victim, it lacks character and is embarrassing.
Sore loser, and his Huskies will be destroyed by the Buckeyes on New Years Day in the Rose Bowl for everyone to see. “ Down in Doheny where the surfers all go, there was this surfer Joe Asa”
“Surfer Joe” Flat Duo Jets I’d love to see Asa surfin the backend for the Irish!
, looking forward to 2019 go Irish