Three MSU football targets fans should keep an eye on

A few of Michigan State’s targets that could be making decisions soon

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Michigan State fans saw a boom in recruiting throughout the month of June. The Spartans landed seven new 2022 commits during the month and have gotten raved reviews hosting recruits on visits.

The Spartans coaching staff is going to look on building that momentum that they have created for themselves so far and really push the class to the next level.

MSU has made an impression on a number of recruits and will be able to make a push to gain even more commitments in the coming weeks.

Let’s take a look at a few targets fans should keep an eye on:

Tight End U loses tight end commitment

Tight End U has lost a commitment

Longtime Notre Dame 2022 football commitment Jack Nickel is no longer that as on Tuesday he announced that he’d be reopening his college recruiting.

Nickel announced his original commitment to Notre Dame back in late July of 2020, but with the de-commitment the Irish now see their class fall to 11 players overall as the school known as “Tight End U” now is without a tight end in their current recruiting cycle.

Nickel is listed as a three-star prospect on 247Sports and checks in at 6-4, 230 pounds out of Milton High School in Georgia.

Notre Dame will now look to get back in the tight end recruiting game for the 2022 class.

Related: Meet Notre Dame football’s 2022 recruiting class

Top-2023 recruit calls Notre Dame ‘amazing program’

Is Notre Dame football elite? Not quite, but to a top-2023 recruit they are “amazing”.

Notre Dame fans who keep an extra-close eye on recruiting are familiar with Milton High School in Georgia as a 2022 recruiting class commitment, tight end Jack Nickel is a student there.

It’s a 2023 recruiting prospect from Milton that is in the news for Notre Dame however as top-ranked defensive end Lebbeus Overton recently had some very positive things to say about the Notre Dame football program.

Speaking to Mike Singer from BlueandGold.com (click for the full article, it’s worth your time), Overton offered the following:

“I’ve watched a lot of their games. I don’t know how to describe it; it’s just an amazing program. They have everything you need to be successful.”

Overton is rated as the nation’s top player according to the most recent 2023 individual rankings that were released by Rivals.  Overton also told Singer that Nickel is in his ear about attending Notre Dame:

“He’s been in my ear a lot,” Overton said. “That’s my guy; we’re close. I’m glad he’s at Notre Dame. It’s an amazing school, especially for tight ends. Ever since I got the offer, he’s been on me and trying to hype me up about it.”

It’s clearly a good sign for Notre Dame that the nation’s top-rated prospect has that to share, but it’s hardly a two-foot putt that Overton will eventually commit to the program.

It’s a good first step and positive news, but a lot of work remains for Notre Dame with the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M just a few of those in pursuit of Overton.

Related: Notre Dame’s 2022 recruiting commitments

Notre Dame offers 2022 Georgia star safety

The Notre Dame staff stay busy on the recruiting trail, trying to continue the Georgia pipeline to South Bend.

There will be open spots in the Notre Dame secondary following this coming season and the competition with be fierce. New Irish defensive coordinator knows that most likely star safety Kyle Hamilton will leave early to the NFL while Houston Griffith could make his move as well, he’s due to graduate this spring.

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With all that in mind, Brian Kelly and Freeman are searching for their next star defensive back and offered Georgia safety Emory Floyd today.

The six-foot-three-inch and 165-pound star has already set a commitment date for May 7th. The Irish join an impressive list of offers that include Georgia, Florida, Auburn, North Carolina and others.

If I was pitching Floyd, I would remind him that the Georgia safety pipeline to South Bend is strong with Hamilton and the recently signed Khari Gee. It’s not just in the secondary that the pipeline is strong either, the Irish just signed wide receivers Deion Colzie and Jayden Thomas and tight end Cane Berrong from the state in the last recruiting cycle. In the 2022 class, tight end Jack Nickel hails from Georgia as well.

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Although it does seem like the Irish have some ground to make up in Floyd’s recruitment, instate Georgia is the perceived leader, there is still time to make a big time impression on the Georgian.

Notre Dame Recruiting update plus 2022 offensive wishlist

An update of the latest Notre Dame football recruiting news along with a 2022 offensive wish list.

The Notre Dame 2021 class is pretty much all wrapped up. With 26 players who have signed their letter of intent, Brian Kelly’s class has been pretty much maxed out. Louisiana’s Logan Diggs remains committed, but reading the tea leaves and the class having over the allotted 25 players, it’s doubtful that the running back ends up signing with the Irish on the second signing day, February 3rd.

So the focus has been turned to the 2022 class, which has 4 current commits (offensive linemen Joey Tanona and Ty Chan, safety Nolan Ziegler and tight end Jack Nickel). Let’s take a look at the most recent news on that class along with my personal wishlist of offensive prospects in that class. Next week, I’ll bring you my defensive wish list.

Notre Dame Football’s 2022 Recruiting Class

Keep track of Notre Dame’s next group of stars. Find out everything about the current commitments in Notre Dame’s 2022 recruiting class here

Notre Dame has started to piece together their 2022 recruiting class as they picked up a pair of commitments on July 25 and 27.

It’s early in the recruiting cycle but Notre Dame’s pair of commitments have landed the Fighting Irish in the top ten nationally in the 2022 recruiting rankings as they sit at No. 7 on 247Sports and No. 7 on Rivals (as of posting on 9/25/2020).

Meet the 2022 Notre Dame recruiting class below!

**–Please note that rankings are based off the players 247Sports Composite rankings.  Keep this page saved in your favorites as it will be updated every time a player commits or de-commits to and from Notre Dame.

 

Midweek Recruiting Update: Johnson offer, latest on Colzie, and more

A look at the latest recruiting news for Notre Dame Football.

It’s safe to say that it’s been fairly quiet on the recruiting trail for the Irish. The coaching staff changed that last night, as they offered Northwestern commit Theran Johnson.

The instate cornerback has been committed to the ‘Cats since May 3 of this year, Johnson is a very solid prospect. He stands six-feet tall and weights 170-pounds. The offer should catch Johnsons attention as aside from Northwestern, every other one of his offers are from non-Power Five schools.

I love this offer, Johnson is a player that might take some time to develop, but getting some of the better talent in Indiana to play for the Irish is a positive development. Almost all of the top 25 players in the state are heading off to a Power Five team, the Irish only have a commit from Blake Fisher. Yes, he’s a big one, literally and figuratively, the top overall player in the state.

Looking ahead at what’s to come for the Irish, the potential for Georgia wide receiver Deion Colzie to rejoin the class is looking better and better as we inch towards his commitment date on the 28th of this month.

Tom Loy, of Irish Illustrated, changed his crystal ball pick to the Irish. That gives me a ton of confidence that as of right now, Colzie is trending to rejoining Lorenzo Styles Jr. as the wide receivers in the 2021 class.

Right now the class consists of nine players on offense: quarterback Tyler Buchner, running back Logan Diggs, Styles Jr., Fisher, offensive tackle Joe Alt, guard Rocco Spindler, center Pat Coogan and tight end’s Mitchell Evans and Cane Berrong.

The defensive commits are a group of nine as well: defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio, defensive ends David Abiara and Jason Onye, linebackers Prince Collie and Will Schweitzer, and defensive backs Philip Riley, Ryan Barnes, Chance Tucker and Justin Walters.

The group of 18 players ranks 12th at ESPN, 13th at 247Sports and 11th at Rivals. Brian Kelly has a solid group of three players committed in the 2022 class: offensive tackle Joey Tanona, tight end Jack Nickel and safety Nolan Ziegler.

It has been a bit slow, but with Colzie’s timeline to recommit set and spatula being brought out to flip Johnson, there could be some positive movement for the Irish. Stay tuned to Fighting Irish Wire for the latest in Notre Dame Football recruiting.

Irish recruiting coordinator Polian excited for next step with ‘22 class

Notre Dame recruiting coordinator Brian Polian is excited to have more access to recruits in the 2022 class starting tomorrow.

The Notre Dame recruiting class of 2021 has not yet been signed, sealed or delivered, but that isn’t going to stop the staff from going after the next group of talented prospects in the 2022 class. September 1st means that college coaches can up the contact with the ‘22 players, and Notre Dame’s recruiting coordinator and special teams coach Brian Polian is excited.

As Polian points out that Brian Kelly’s coaching staff can now text, send direct messages via social media accounts, and go old school and send mail. You might be thinking mailers still in the internet age? That’s typically an edit, where they superimpose the prospect in uniform, on campus or some other creative way.

This is very popular among recruiting circles and although a bit archaic to send mailers, it’s still a key part of the recruiting process.

Right now the Irish staff has done a great job with limited contact in the ‘22 class, already securing three commitments for a top rated class. Instate offensive tackle Joey Tanona, tight end Jack Nickel and safety Nolan Ziegler comprise the commits, the trio are ranked 4th by 247Sports, while the other two major services (ESPN and Rivals) have yet to rank the teams classes.

The Irish have offered 96 prospects in the ‘22 class and expect that number to rise in the coming weeks. As an example the ‘21 class has offered 143 players while the ‘20 class offered 161. Stay tuned for more recruiting news in the future, as Notre Dame will try and bring in yet another highly regarded recruiting class.

Notre Dame gets a commit from ‘22 safety Ziegler

The Irish stay hot on the recruiting trail, grabbing a commit from safety Nolan Ziegler of Michigan.

The Irish continue to stay hot on the recruiting trail, especially in the 2022 class. They added safety/linebacker Nolan Ziegler from Michigan, as the ’22 class went from zero commits to three in just under a month.

 

Ziegler is a great looking prospect for a safety, but with a frame like his at 6-foot-4-inches and 205-pounds, he eventually could move to a linebacker if he keeps his speed with some added weight. I love that he has a winning pedigree, as his Grand Rapids Central Catholic team won the state title last year. Ziegler makes plays all over the field, as he is moved around on defense, as an outside linebacker and a safety. It doesn’t end there as he also is fantastic as a gunner on special teams, which could get him on the field early when he arrives in South Bend. Watch here as Ziegler makes play after play during his sophomore year.

The Irish beat out instate Michigan, Iowa and Nebraska along with a few others for Ziegler’s commitment. It’s always nice to beat the Wolverines, wither it’s on the field or off it.

Ziegler becomes the third commit in the growing 2022 class, after getting commits from instate offensive tackle Joey Tanona and Georgia tight end Jack Nickel. The early three commits have the Notre Dame class ranked 4th overall by the 247Sports composite. This is a great start for Brian Kelly and his staff on the ‘22 class with the expectation that they will continue to keep up the good work.

Watch: New Notre Dame Tight End Jack Nickel’s Highlight Tape

Notre Dame landed their second commitment of the 2022 recruiting class on Monday. See the highlight tape of new tight end, Jack Nickel here!

Notre Dame gained their second commitment to the 2022 recruiting class on Monday as it was four-star tight end Jack Nickel announcing his commitment.

Nickel is ranked as a four-star player according to 247Sports and becomes the latest tight end for a program that produces them at as high of level on on as regular of basis as anyone.

For more information on Nickel’s commitment you can read our story from earlier today when the news broke.  If you’d like to check out what kind of player Nickel is, you can see highlights from his sophomore year at Milton High School in Georgia below.

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