Tag: Irish Football Recruiting

Welcome back Deion Colzie, WR rejoins Irish 2021 class

The talented Georgia star has decided to recommit to his dream school.

The wild recruiting ride of Georgia star wide receiver Deion Colzie has finally come to an happy ending for the Irish as the star has recommitted to Brian Kelly and Notre Dame.

A quick timeline of events for Colzie, his initial commitment to the Irish happening last year on October 19 then his decommitment on March 20 of this year. This came as a shock to much of Irish Nation as Colzie has multiple times mentioned his dream school resided in South Bend.

Colzie is welcomed back with open arms as he rejoins the 2021 class, which now has 18 commits. Lorenzo Styles Jr. is the other wide receiver commit in the class, the pair give the Irish two of the best in the country.

Now that Colzie has rejoined the Irish, the overall ranking of the class has jumped from 14th in the nation to 11th according to 247Sports composite rankings.

What a great way to start the week off for Notre Dame.

Former Irish commit Colzie sets commitment date, possible recommitment?

One-time Notre Dame commit Deion Colzie has set a date to make his second commitment. Could lightening strike twice for the Irish?

Last October, Brian Kelly scored a huge win when Georgia wide receiver Deion Colzie committed to the Irish. Notre Dame held on to Colzieā€™s commitment until March 20, when he reopened his recruitment. Colzie now has set a date to commit for the second time.

Taking a look at where some of the experts think Colzie is headed is not very encouraging. At 247Sports, there have been 6 ā€œcrystal ballā€ picks, each one of them favoring instate Georgia. The other pick was made for the Irish, but it was made the day Colzie previously committed to the Irish. Itā€™s noteable that Irish Illustrated insider Tom Loy has picked Georgia.

Rivals sees it the same way, but with an asterisk. Their Notre Dame insider Mike Singer picked the Irish in their FutureCast, after another one of their insiders picked Colzie to recommit as well. So youā€™re saying thereā€™s a chance?

Right now it tough to tell what Colzieā€™s intentions are. No doubt, Kelly and wide receivers coach Del Alexander would love for Colzie to rejoin the Irish 2021 recruiting class. Right now, Lorenzo Styles Jr. is the lone commit at the position. We will continue to monitor the situation, as the countdown to September 28 has begun.

Notre Dame offers stud 2023 receiver Tate

Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees goes a little west over to Illinois and offers 2023 wide receiver Carnell Tate.

It may have seemed like the onus was going to be solely on the 2022 class today, see as increased contact was allow by the NCAA starting today. (Check out some of the prospects from ā€˜22 that got some love from Brian Kelly and his recruiting staff).

That didnā€™t stop them from going to Chicago, Illinois and offering one of the most talented wide receivers in the country in Carnell Tate.

It was a conversation with new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees that spurred the offer, which for the 6-foot-2-inch and 170-pound was his fourth to date. This is a big one as Tate shows a very high ceiling for such a young player. He showed a bit of everything during his freshman campaign, which is why Tate is getting attention from Power Five schoolā€™s already. Tate runs crisp routes, has great hands, and shows big play ability after the catch. Check out his highlights here.

Tate is the first offer that the Irish have made on offense for the 2023 class, showing how they feel about his skill level and what he could turn out to be. With Brian Kelly and Rees already getting the attention of Tate at this early juncture in his recruitment will hopefully yield dividends down the road.

Notre Dame Football offers top defensive end in ā€˜23 class Mā€™Pemba

The Irish look a few classes ahead and offer one of the most intriguing athletes in the 2023 recruiting class, Missouriā€™s Samuel Mā€™Pemba.

To this date, Brian Kelly and his coaching staff have focused their recruiting efforts in the 2021 and 2022 class. Itā€™s not to say the staff has forgotten about the 2023 class, but they have been much more selective as to who they are offering. After a talk with defensive line coach Mike Elston, the number one weak-side defensive end Samuel Mā€™Pemba was verbally offered.

The Missouri native stands 6-foot-4-inches and weighs 216-pounds is seeing his recruitment blow up. Just this month Mā€™Pemba has added offers from Georgia, Michigan, Arizona State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Arkansas, and Missouri while he previously held offers from Texas, California and others.

Mā€™Pemba is quite an intriguing prospect as he did a little of everything in during his freshman campaign. He showed an array of skills, as he rushed the passer as a defensive end, then would flip to the other side of the ball and catch passes from his quarterback. You donā€™t see many players having the skill set that allows you to be productive at both of those positions. Check out his highlight reel here.

Mā€™Pemba is a prospect that oozes with talent, almost anywhere you put him. Kelly and Elston obviously see his as a defensive end in the future, but who knows with such an impressive athlete that Mā€™Pemba is. Either way we would love to see him in the Blue and Gold in the future.

Is Notre Dame a Contender for 4-Star Offensive Tackle Rucci?

Rivals projects who is leading for Nolan Rucci, the offensive tackle from Pennsylvania in the 2021 recruiting class.

The Irish just picked up a commitment from Minnesota offensive tackle Joe Alt on Monday, and instate Blake Fisher already in the fold make a solid tandem for the 2021 recruiting class. Brian Kelly and offensive line coach Jeff Quinn are still looking for another player at the position, as his philosophy is go hard after tackles and they can move down to guard if need be later.

With that in mind, Pennsylvania 4-Star offensive tackle Nolan Rucci is still trying to make a decision on where he will attend school. Rivals took a look atĀ where his recruitment standsĀ and it looks like Kelly and Quinn should continue to look at other prospects. Adam Friedman, a recruiting analyst with Rivals, doesnā€™t see this one trending in the Irishā€™s way.

The Irish ranked 6thĀ for Rucciā€™s services, not a particularly encouraging spot going forward. They have a lot of other schools the Irish will have to jump in order to get Rucci in the Blue and Gold. His recruitment has been trending away from the Irish so Kelly will most likely have to look in another direction. When looking at the 16 tackles offered, only five remain uncommitted and none of them are trending the Irishā€™s direction. They most likely will have to find another diamond in the rough like Alt to round out the position in 2021 recruiting.