Sometimes players commit when it just feels right. Other times they commit on days special to them, like a family birthday. When it came time to pick a commitment date for recent Notre Dame linebacker commit Jaylen Sneed, the top-100 player picked July 12 for a more Notre Dame-centric reason. He chose the 12th because Notre Dame is in search of its 12th national championship as a program.
Sneed’s high school coach tweeted out the rationale behind Sneed’s selection of July 12 initially last night.
Sneed himself quickly chimed in that just 12 might not be enough.
You have to love that kind of attitude in any incoming player, but when it’s from a top-100 linebacker who is the kind of difference-making athlete Notre Dame needs more of to win that 12th national championship, it’s even better.
The Irish have been painfully close, yet painfully far away in recent years with the blowout at the hands of Alabama in 2012 and then a pair of College Football Playoff appearances that haven’t really been all that competitive in the last three years. Landing more top-100 caliber athletes like Jaylen Sneed, however, is one way Notre Dame can not only be more competitive in those games but ultimately win them.
Notre Dame’s class of 2022 currently ranks 2nd in the 247Sports team rankings, with several highly ranked prospects left on the board that could help tip the scales for the Irish in future playoff appearances. Notre Dame is believed to be leading for top-100 wide receiver CJ Williams and is still heavily involved with top-100 prospect Zach Rice, Xavier Nwankpa, Anthony Lucas, and Hero Kanu. In addition, CB Benjamin Morrison and WR Tobias Merriweather aren’t top-100 prospects, but they are consensus 4-star prospects in the 250 that are thought to be leaning Notre Dame’s way as well.
Brian Kelly and his coaching staff have been more vocal about the goal of winning a national championship in recent years, so it’s good to see that messaging coming through to recruits like Sneed. As we saw in January, there is still work to be done to get over the hump, but landing more and more recruits like Sneed is a necessary step needed to get there.
