Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman signed what was an impressive first recruiting class as college football’s early signing period officially opened on Wednesday. The Irish landed 24 letters of intent in what is seen nationally as a top ten recruiting class.
As impressive as the class is (you can track all the Notre Dame signings here), the national narrative surrounding the Irish is not how good the class is, but how good it could have been. Erick Smith of USA TODAY Sports named early signing period’s winners and losers, noting Notre Dame as the later.
It wasn’t that the Fighting Irish didn’t do well in Marcus Freeman’s first full class. They finished comfortably in the top 10 with running back Jeremiyah Love and defensive back Christian Gray signing from St. Louis high schools and in-state linebacker Drayk Bowen coming aboard. However, this had the potential to be one of their best classes in decades before defection of Keeley and expected loss of Bowen, two players that are the profile the program needs to win in the playoff. – Erick Smith
As strong as I think Notre Dame’s class remains, Smith’s point is very difficult to argue against. This could be the class that ultimately returns Notre Dame to a national championship level, but it’d be a lot easier to see that if Keeley and Bowen both remained in the class instead of bolting.
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