Category: Recruiting

Big-Time Notre Dame O-Line Target Chooses Auburn

Caleb Johnson, a four-star offensive tackle from Florida made is college decision Friday and it came as a blow to Notre Dame.

For the second time in ten days one of Notre Dame’s most desired targets in the 2021 recruiting class has chosen to take his talents elsewhere.  Last week it was star running back Will Shipley choosing Clemson over the Irish, Friday afternoon it was offensive tackle Caleb Johnson committing to Auburn over Notre Dame.

The four-star offensive tackle chose Auburn and again, Notre Dame misses out on the second tackle they’ve been trying so hard to add to their ’21 class.  His commitment to Auburn bumps the Tigers from 48 in the 247Sports team rankings all the way to 35 as he’s their sixth overall commitment in the class.

You may see Johnson being a Florida guy staying in the southeast, but he grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana which gave many hope that he’d one day wear Notre Dame’s blue and gold uniforms.

The Notre Dame class remains at ten commitments with tackle Blake Fisher and guard Pat Coogan being the two on the offensive line.  Not that they aren’t already but I’d expect it to be all systems go on Pennsylvania product Nolan Rucci, a five-star tackle who recently included Notre Dame in his top nine.

Twitter reacts to four-star 2021 OLB Clayton Smith’s commitment

Twitter reacted to four-star OLB Clayton Smith’s commitment to Oklahoma.

Alex Grinch won one of his first Red River recruiting battles on Friday with the commitment of four-star outside linebacker Clayton Smith.

Smith is now the fourth defensive player in Sooners 2021 class.

Smith said he’s known he’s committing to Oklahoma since last July.

Cullen Montgomery, another Oklahoma 2021 commit, shared his approval.

The Sooners 2021 QB target also weighed in.

 

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2021 three-star wide receiver from Louisiana commits to Texas

UT has landed 2021 WR Casey Cain. The 3* prospect from Louisiana is the first commit in the 2021 class to come from outside the state.

Texas has landed 2021 wide receiver Casey Cain. The three-star prospect from Louisiana is the first commit in the 2021 recruiting class to come from outside the state of Texas.

Continue reading “2021 three-star wide receiver from Louisiana commits to Texas”

Texas land commitment for 2021 three-star running back

UT has landed another commitment in the 2021 class, this time from Jonathon Brooks. The 3* prospect is the first RB in this year’s class.

The Longhorns have landed another commitment in the 2021 class, this time from Jonathon Brooks. The three-star prospect is the first running back in this year’s class, after signing Bijan Robinson in 2020. Brooks will now join the top-rated class in the Big 12.

Continue reading “Texas land commitment for 2021 three-star running back”

Four-star OLB Clayton Smith commits to Oklahoma

Four-star OLB Clayton Smith committed to Oklahoma on Friday.

Score one for Alex Grinch.

The Oklahoma defensive coordinator won one of his first Red River recruiting battles on Friday as four-star outside linebacker Clayton Smith committed to Oklahoma.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 220-pound standout from Texarkana, Texas committed to the Sooners over Texas, Arizona, Baylor, Oregon, Nebraska and several others. The race for the four-star ultimately came down to the two Big 12 blue bloods. Smith was thought to be headed to Texas for a majority of his recruitment.

Rivals ranks Smith as the 14th-ranked player in his position in the 2021 class, and No. 27 in Texas. He has 25 offers in total.

Before WR Mario Williams, the No. 1 ranked receiver in the class according to Rivals, and Smith committed on Friday, Oklahoma had the 43rd-ranked class according to Rivals with just five total commits.

With the addition of just Williams, the class already jumped up 11 spots to No. 32, and is bound to see another jump after Smith’s commitment.

The class consists now consists of three offensive and four defensive players.

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Wisconsin offers another exciting 2021 WR/TE prospect

The Badgers an exciting 2021 WR/TE prospect

New Wisconsin WR coach Alvis Whitted is staying busy on the recruiting trail despite this current dead period. The Badgers extended yet another 2021 offer to a WR/TE yesterday. Wisconsin offered Leo Blackburn Jr. out of Atlanta, Ga. (Westlake) per his Twitter account.

The physical, 6-foot-5 receiver has an offer list that includes the likes of TCU, Colorado, Minnesota, Duke, and in-state Georgia Tech. Illinois also recently jumped in with an offer on March 3. With his size, Blackburn Jr. is a hybrid TE/WR prospect that the Badgers are likely recruiting to play the WR position.

Check out Blackburn Jr’s highlight tape from this past season via Hudl: http://www.hudl.com/v/2CPfsi

5-star WR Mario Williams, a Georgia and Oklahoma target, makes commitment

4-star WR Mario Williams, a UGA football and Oklahoma Sooners target, made his commitment on Friday.

On Friday, 2021 5-star wide receiver Mario Williams announced his decision.

The Plant City, Florida native was considering Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, Alabama and LSU.

Williams announced his commitment to Oklahoma via Twitter. He is the nation’s No. 12 overall recruit according to Rivals.

Georgia is still in good shape for the 2021 class despite missing out on Williams. Right now, Georgia has the nation’s 17th ranked recruiting class (per 247Sports), headlined by 5-star quarterback Brock Vandagriff.

Kirby Smart has plenty of time to climb the rankings and still finish with a top-three class, something he’s done in three consecutive seasons.

As for Oklahoma, the Sooners really needed a commitment, and now have the nation’s No. 31 ranked class. Williams is their highest rated commit.

 

Happy Friday, College Football Morning Announcements Style

2002 Miami vs. Florida State brought back all of the memories for me last night.

Congrats, you’ve made it to Friday.

I’m not sure if you’re working from home, still having to go to your place of employment or if you haven’t stopped going into work but you’re almost to the weekend and sometimes you just have to give yourself a small pat on the back for making it there.

Last night I was working on a couple things and scrolling channels, only to come across a college football game from when I was 16.  It took me a bit down memory lane with the NFL talent that was everywhere and it made me really want to go back to my parents basement and play NCAA Football ’03 with my high school friends.

That game is the basis of most of this Friday’s podcast.  Enjoy some discussion on the great Florida State vs. Miami rivalry, Sean Taylor and Greg Reid love and please tell me how a certain Hurricane was so loved nationally.

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We’ll be in touch on here with a few things throughout this Friday but enjoy your weekends.

When Notre Dame DC Lea Speaks, We Listen

Irish defensive coordinator Clark Lea breaks down how he goes about coaching linebackers.

Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator Clark Lea sat down with 247Sports Barton Simmons today and among the topics they discussed was what the Irish are looking for out of their linebacker’s.

In a common theme among the Irish coaching staff, Lea made sure that he reiterated what Brian Kelly preaches all the time, it’s not just about playing football in South Bend for the next 3-5 years, is a lifetime commitment. “These guys come to Notre Dame because they know about backup plans. We want guys that are so focused in every area, so prideful in excelling in all areas, that we really just get to pour into them as football players and make the four year experience the best we can make it.”

Lea also went in depth as to how the staff goes about the academic side of being a member of the Notre Dame Football team. “We want to make sure we have guys that are focused, that are task-orientated, that have the resilience to get done what needs to be done in the classroom, in study table, and in tutoring environments so that everything that we do in coaching them is centered around football.” My biggest take away is the resilience portion, as we all know in football there are going to be trying times at certain points in the season and having the ability to keep their focus and get the job done is paramount in life as well as football.

Lea also went on to talk about one of his star pupils, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and what stands out about the linebacker. “I went and watched him play basketball and the twitch was unbelievable. It wasn’t just the ability to jump, I’m watching him crossover dribble in warm-ups and just his head and shoulders, and the way he moved. It was so evident to me he had elite twitch, short area movement skill that through our system developing has only increased.” It seems as if Lea knew early on, Owusu-Koramoah had the skill set to dominate at this level.

It was a great insight in the defensive coordinators mind, and it shows why Lea is one of the best in the country. If he continues developing players like Owusu-Koramoah, school will be knocking at the door with head coaching offers soon. Hopefully, its not too soon.

Commitment day for UGA, Oklahoma football recruiting target

Mario Williams, a four-star Georgia and Oklahoma recruiting target, is making his commitment. He plays football at Plant City in Florida

The Georgia Bulldogs are in the top schools for 2021 wide receiver Mario Williams. Williams is a talented four-star recruit, who plays high school football for Plant City High School in Florida.

Williams is an explosive athlete with a smaller frame. Here’s who elite wide receiver Mario Williams put in his top schools:

Williams is picking between four SEC teams: LSU, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and one Big-12 team in Oklahoma. Georgia is continuing to battle the Florida Gators for talented recruits in the Sunshine State.

In recent years, elite talent in Florida has been eluding the traditional in-state programs to go to Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and others. Mario Williams is a high-stakes recruit because if he doesn’t come to Athens, then the Dawgs will play against him, unless he goes to Oklahoma.

Williams is actually favored to attend Oklahoma. That being said, he’s making his commitment May 15th at noon, so Dawg fans won’t have to wait long to find out where he’s headed.

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