Category: Notre Dame Football

Notre Dame Offers Two ’21 Defensive Backs

Notre Dame Football offers CB Dreyden Norwood and S Khari Gee.

The eleven o’clock hour this morning saw two offers go out to defensive backs, first Arkansas CB Dreyden Norwood. Having already held offers from Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas A&M, the Irish are getting in the mix for the 6’0” hundred- and seventy-pound corner.

Although Norwood played quarterback this year for Northside High School, he projects to play on the other side of the ball. Norwood looks like a natural with the ball in his hands, so when he does move over to defense, look for him to be able to take turnovers to the house.

It was safety Khari Gee’s turn a short time after Norwood, as the 6’3” 185-pound Georgian also has an impressive offer list. Clemson, LSU, and Michigan are a few of the offers Gee had prior to today and at the moment there is a lot of ground Brian Kelly will have to make up.

Gee released his Top 10 schools just last week, but this was clearly prior to the Irish offering the talent prospect. If Brian Kelly and his staff are able to convince Gee to visit, the Irish very much could sneak into the safety’s recruitment. The defender likes to come up and hit his opponents, often lineup up in the box and making plays You can see Gee do just that right here.

The Woodward Academy star is definitely a playmaker and with Notre Dame offering him a scholarship, hopefully he changes his Top 10 in the Irish’s favor.

ESPN Projects Notre Dame as Contender for College Football Playoff Berth

ESPN’s Heather Dinich names Notre Dame as contender for College Football Playoff berth.

Spring is upon us, with many college teams starting spring practice this week (the Irish start on Thursday) ESPN’s Heather Dinich previewed some of the team she believes will be in contention for a College Football Playoff berth. Dinich looked at ten teams, with Notre Dame being one of them and evaluated each time by looking at four different factors: Where they strand now, biggest obstacle, and what the committee will and won’t like.

The easiest one to project is where Brian Kelly’s team stands now, as Dinich notes that QB Ian Book returns along with the whole offensive line but believes that “those within the program know their margin for error is only one loss.”

The biggest obstacle Dinich believes are when the Irish travel away from South Bend, with three true road games and three neutral site games. Yes, Clemson will be the toughest game, but by looking big picture, Dinich makes a very solid point.

In the College Football Era it’s been difficult to judge what the committee will value more than the other. With that in mind, Dinich thinks if the Irish defeat both Wisconsin and Clemson, it would negate not having a conference championship attached to Notre Dame’s resume. She believes the committee won’t like close wins, due to having to “leave no doubt it’s (Notre Dame) one of the four best, and the only way to do that is win convincingly.”

Brian Kelly has led the Irish to one CFP berth, just two years ago in 2018 season, and there is plenty of hype coming into this year. There is a very real possibility that Notre Dame will be in the conversation for another opportunity to win a National Championship at the end of this year.

Incoming Notre Dame RB Chris Tyree Proves Once Again He’s Fast

Incoming Notre Dame Freshman RB Chris Tyree wins Virginia indoor 55-meter state championship.

Many have already covered how fast incoming freshman RB Chris Tyree is, we certainly have here, but if you want more proof, just watch Tyree run past his Virginia high school competition.

Tyree now is a 2-time winner of the 55-meter dash and that speed sure translates over to the gridiron. Just take a look at some of high senior year highlights, the speed Tyree has with pads on is extremely impressive.

The four-star running back will arrive on campus this spring with very high expectations, his speed will hopefully help him achieve his lofty recruiting rating.  After running a 4.38 forty-yard dash at The Opening Finals, Tyree’s is among the fastest incoming freshman in the nation and will be looking to make an immediate impact for the Irish this coming season.

NCAA Discusses Potential Football Rule Changes

The NCAA met yesterday and discussed multiple rule changes for collegiate football.

The NCAA has been proposed a few rule changes, as they met yesterday in Indianapolis to discuss changes to the game. There were many topics that were discussed, but the biggest one has to do with players faking injuries to stop offenses while they are going up-tempo. The change would involve players having to sit out more than one play after injury, but at the current moment the coaches have to police their players.

A rule that also was discussed is the fact that the referees only have an hour prior to kick off to enforce rules during pregame warm-ups. Multiple times we have been teams scuffle prior to the officials being on the field with no punishment. The new rule would give official’s jurisdiction 90 minutes prior, hopefully stopping pre-game issues between teams.

Another proposed change would involve targeting and how the “walk of shame” would be eliminated. If a player was to be ejected for targeting under the potential new rule, the player would not have to be escorted off the field, they would be able to continue to stay with their team but on the bench.

Many of these probable rules make plenty of sense, especially the faking of injuries to slow the game down. These rules would clearly impact the game, but it doesn’t seem like a negative impact would accompany any of them. Which rules would you like to see changed or kept the same?

Notre Dame Offers 2021 S Mukuba of Texas

Irish offer ’21 S Andrew Mukuba of Texas.

Texas is a hotbed for recruiting and today Recruiting Coordinator/Special Teams Coordinator Brian Polian made a call out to one of the state’s top prospects, Safety Andrew Mukuba. The conversation went well, with Polian offering the defender a scholarship.

It’s been quite a day for the DB from Austin, also picking up offers from Duke and Washington State, which adds to schools like Alabama, TCU, and Auburn having already thrown their hat in the ring. The 5’11”, soon to be junior looks like he could be a star on the offensive side of the ball as well.

The highlights are impressive as Mukuba runs by the competition over and over again. Ranked as the 198th overall player and 8th safety by 247Sports while Rivals has him 36th at his position and ESPN has yet to rank the speedy safety. Mukuba it is still very early in his recruitment, but getting an early Notre Dame offer will hopefully catch the Texas star’s eye.

Notre Dame’s Clark Lea Named Among Best Assistant Coaches in Country

Notre Dame DC Clark Lea named as one of best assistant coaches in the country.

Yes, a head coach is extremely important to any collegiate football programs, but just as important are the assistant, who typically work closer with position groups and specific players. Having dependable assistants are keys to success and Brian Kelly has hit a home run when he hired Clark Lea in 2017.

Barton Simmons of 247Sports recently ranked the best assistants in the country assistants in the country and Clark Lea was among the group named. Simmons has some very high praise for the Irish’s Defensive Coordinator as he has taken the defense to another level since his elevation from linebackers’ coach.

Simmons noted that Lea has helped the defense rate with the best in the nation as they “continued up to No. 14 in 2018 and climbed to No. 8 last season. In particular, Notre Dame has been one of the top programs in the nation in pass defense each of the last two years and Lea has shown a penchant for fantastic in-game adjustments.”

Lea will have his work cut out for him this coming season as the Irish return only a few players with staring experience. If Lea is able to keep the Irish’s defensive rating close to where it has been the last few years, then he will more than earn this recognition that Simmons has given Lea.

NFL Combine: Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool Tests Into Elite Company

Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool wows NFL scouts at NFL Combine.

Everyone who follows Notre Dame Football knew WR Chase Claypool would test out very well at the NFL Combine, but no one really knew how impressive Claypool would be. He put on a show in Indianapolis yesterday.

Claypool’s 40-yard dash time put him among some very elite company. Since the 2006 NFL Combine, Claypool joins future Hall of Fame WR Calvin Johnson as the only WR’s over 230-pounds to run that fast. When adding in the bench press numbers along with his measureables, the NFL is drooling over Claypool’s potential.

Any time you are compared to Megatron, you are in very good company. Claypool was asked to work out at tight end as well, but after putting up these kind of numbers, NFL teams will be falling in love with him even more.

Claypool’s impressive showing yesterday will most likely make him plenty of money, as he will for sure move up many teams’ draft boards. The NFL executives tend to fall in love with players who test out this well and Chase Claypool is the latest player to wow everyone while doing drills in Indy.

Notre Dame’s Eichenberg Named Among Best Returning Offensive Linemen

Rivals names Notre Dame OT Eichenberg among best returning offensive linemen.

The clear strength of the Irish offense coming into this year is the offensive line, with all 5 starters returning to protect QB Ian Book, the unit should be one of the best in the country. With a top group there always has to be a standout and today Mike Farrell, Rival’s National Recruiting Director revealed his Top 10 returning offensive linemen.

It should come to no one’s surprise that Liam Eichenberg made the list, but where he is on the list may be a bit surprising. Farrell named the star offensive tackle as the 10th best returning lineman on the offensive side, behind names like Kentucky’s Darrian Kinnard and Wisconsin’s Cole Van Lanen.

Many of lists are subjective, each expert could be looking for multiple factors in how they grade out players. Farrell did say however that the Irish star “is efficient and a strong leader on the Notre Dame offense who doesn’t get enough credit.” Maybe Farrell should have given him more credit by ranking Eichenberg higher on his list of returning offensive linemen. Where do you think Eichenberg ranks among his lineman peers?

 

In-state ’22 LB Moon will visit Notre Dame for Blue-Gold Game

Local ’22 LB Domanick Moon sets up visit to Notre Dame for Blue-Gold game.

As spring practices are getting started, plenty of recruits are locking in the visits and today marks 2022 LB Domanick Moon’s intentions the weekend of April 18th.

Moon will make a visit to South Bend from nearby Fort Wayne and be in attendance for the Blue-Gold Game. Moon also has an invite to go to Iowa spring game as well, which takes place a few weeks prior so there is not a conflict.

At the moment the instate LB does not have any offers, only a sophomore at the moment the 6’2” 215-pound ‘backer will soon see offers roll in. Watching Moon’s highlights show a linebacker that can move from sideline to sideline and has solid instincts. He lines up at middle and outside linebacker positions, occasionally as a stand-up end as well. For being just a sophomore, Moon’s future is bright and getting him on campus early is a definite positive for Notre Dame.

Brian Kelly has gotten off to a fantastic start for the 2021 class, which helps with the 2022 class as it enables the staff to get ahead on their assessments of players. It remains to be seen if Moon gets the coveted Irish offer, but if he does Notre Dame could be in the driver seat for his commitment.

ESPN Updates their 2021 Recruiting Rankings, High on Many Notre Dame Commits

ESPN ranks 7 of 8 Notre Dame commits inside their updated Top 300 class of 2021 recruit rankings.

Rivals and 247Sports beat ESPN to update their prospect rankings but it still is very much worth checking out where the current 8 Irish commits rank inside their Top 300.. Seven of the current 8 commits are ranked among the best in the nation:

#8 Pocket QB Tyler Buchner, 42nd overall

#1 H-TE Cane Berrong, 48th overall

#10 WR Deion Colzie 71st overll

#15 OT Blake Fisher, 113th overall

#10 DT Gabriel Rubio, 159th overall

#49 WR Lorenze Styles Jr., 232nd overall

#14 OG Greg Crippen, 290th overall

The only commit not ranked in ESPN’s Top 300 is S Justin Walters, who is still a very good prospect despite his low ranking. If you need proof, just take a look at Walters 23 offers from schools like Michigan, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Syracuse.

It is very encouraging to see the quality of prospects that Brian Kelly has gotten commitments from this early in the ’21 recruiting cycle. The base of elite players will surely help going forward as high level players want to play with other players of the same caliber. The 2021 Notre Dame recruiting class is well on their way to being one of the best in the country.