This spring hasn’t been normal, what has, but that still hasn’t stopped recruiting in college football. Plenty of recruits are committing and today Josh Helmholdt of Rivals looked at the best commits in the Midwest this spring, with the Irish’s newest commit Pat Coogan making the list.
Coogan checked in at 8th on Helmholdt’s list, but that didn’t mean high praise wasn’t headed his way. “We may look back at Coogan as being the unsung hero of this Notre Dame 2021 class, despite the class already featuring four Rivals100 prospects. There is an argument to be made that Coogan’s value within a class exceed his individual rating because of his versatility.” Coogan at 6’4” and 287 pounds is seen an offensive lineman that could play any of the 3 positions, depending on how his body fills out once he hits campus.
It seems like a common theme to rank Coogan lower than he should be. Take a look at his offer list which includes LSU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma, three of the four College Football Playoff teams from last year. A recruit who has those kinds of offers is usually ranked much higher than Coogan is currently, ranked as the 36th best tackle in the country by Rivals.
I feel as if Coogan will outplay his ranking, whatever it ends up being prior to his arrival on campus next year. Brian Kelly went next door to Illinois and got a very good prospect in Pat Coogan.