Tag: mike mickens

2026 four-star Pennsylvania safety recruit to visit Notre Dame

Can the Irish get him?

In June, Tom Loy of 247Sports predicted that Notre Dame would land Joey O’Brien, a 2026 four-star safety recruit. 247Sports considers O’Brien the best player in Pennsylvania among the 2026 recruiting class. On3 also considers the Irish the odds-on favorite to be O’Brien’s choice.

Of course, the Irish aren’t the only program aiming for O’Brien’s services. Penn State and Michigan also are said to have good chances at getting him. Altogether, O’Brien has received offers from 19 programs. He can pick pretty much anybody he wants because he’s that good.

The Irish now will be able to make an on-campus pitch to O’Brien because he’s set to visit Notre Dame this coming weekend for the game against Miami (Ohio). Hopefully, they can put together a convincing presentation because their current 2026 recruiting class of [autotag]Noah Grubbs[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Faison[/autotag] hasn’t changed since Loy made his prediction. It would be nice to see another addition to that class:

https://twitter.com/SWiltfong_/status/1836069798301585916

Best of luck to the Irish in their pursuit of O’Brien, especially recruiters [autotag]Mike Mickens[/autotag] and [autotag]Marty Biagi[/autotag], the two defensive backs coaches.

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Notre Dame defensive backs coach named second best in college football

How effective will the secondary be this year?

A lot of things can determine whether or not a college football unit is strong. Players can lift up coaches as well as the other way around. We don’t know if that’s the case at Notre Dame, but one definitely could make that case.

[autotag]Mike Mickens[/autotag] is the Irish’s defensive backs coach, and he’s blessed to have future NFL first-round pick [autotag]Benjamin Morrison[/autotag] as part of his unit, not to mention another future NFL player in [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag].

Whether Morrison and Watts have anything to do with it or not, Big Game Boomer, the college football list aficionado on social media, has listed Mickens as the second-best defensive backs coach in the sport:

The Irish widely are expected to have a strong defensive unit again this season, and the defensive backs should be a major reason why. Mickens has plenty of talent there, and he now must figure out how to get his players to be in sync with one another.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

A trio from Notre Dame on Football Scoops Coach of the Year finalists

Elite coaches = Elite play

You know you are doing well when three of your assistant coaches are named finalists for an award, which is exactly what happened to Notre Dame.

Running backs coach [autotag]Deland McCullough[/autotag], defensive back coach [autotag]Mike Mickens[/autotag], and defensive backs / safeties coach [autotag]Chris O’Leary[/autotag] were all named to Football Scoops Coach of the Year final list.

McCullough is being credited for the play of Aurdic Estime, who rushed for 1,341 yards and 18 touchdowns on the year. The junior running back has declared for the NFL and looks to be one of the first off the board at his position.

As for Mickens and O’Leary, the exploits of safety Xavier Watts, who won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, along with Benjamin Morrison’s play showed everyone that they are two of the best in the country.

If I had to guess who was most likely to win the award, it would be O’Leary, as he gets the most credit for the success of the secondary.

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Notre Dame offers sophomore All-American athlete a scholarship

The Irish will try and lure this California athlete to the Midwest

[autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] has a very good history of recruiting the state of California and they are dipping their toes with another prospect.

Class of 2025 athlete [autotag]LaMason Waller[/autotag] is regarded as one of the best prospects in the country. The sophomore is 6-foot, 2-inches and weighs 170 pounds is rated as the 80th best recruit in his class and 6th best athlete according to the 247Sports composite.

Waller now has a Notre Dame offer along with about 40 others that he has amassed prior to playing a down in his junior year. It’s an extremely impressive list that should only grow as he progresses through his high school career.

Waller most likely will line up as a wide receiver at the next level but after tagging defensive backs coach [autotag]Mike Mickens[/autotag], the Irish might be looking at him on the other side of the ball.

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Notre Dame secondary ranked among nation’s best

Are you buying this hype?

We’ve started our positional breakdowns here at Fighting Irish Wire with the quarterbacks and running backs done and the rest of the offense to come this week.  Soon after we’ll get to the defensive side of the ball and the secondary to be more specific.

When we discuss that might we be talking about the strength of this entire Notre Dame defense?  And if so, when was the last time you looked at a Notre Dame defense and said the defensive backs were what you trusted the most?

There are certainly arguments to be made for other position groups as well but Notre Dame’s secondary received some grand praise from College Football News as they were called the nation’s second-best unit by the outlet recently.

Here is what Pete Fiutak of College Football News said about the Notre Dame defensive backs (and check out the link to see who Fiutak ranks right above and right below Notre Dame):

There’s a shot the secondary turns into the team’s biggest strength. Corners Clarence Lewis and Cam Hart can hit, the depth is – for the most part – there for all spots, the safeties are experienced, and on top of all of that, Northwestern transfer Brandon Joseph might be the best safety in college football.

I’ve thought for a while simply by watching the improvement in the secondary and specifically at cornerback that [autotag]Mike Mickens[/autotag] doesn’t get enough credit for his work since replacing Todd Lyght following the 2019 season.

Is this unit the second best in the nation?  I hesitate to go quite that far but if it turns out to be you may very well be looking at one of the two or three best defenses in all of college football in 2022.

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Goshen News publishes story about Notre Dame cornerbacks

Do you have high hopes for this unit?

With spring practice in full swing at Notre Dame, now is the time to write about pretty much everything related to the program. After all, the first game of the season is months away, so it’s nice to read about the team without having to look at it through the lens of game performance. The Goshen News realizes is and decided to look at one of the units the Irish have. Specifically, Evan Lepak has written about Mike Mickens’ cornerbacks.

Significant attention is given to veterans TaRiq Bracy, Clarence Lewis and Cam Hart. Lepak also notes that the Irish have a bunch of freshmen after those three on the depth chart. There are redshirt freshmen Ryan Barnes, Philip Riley and Chance Tucker. The Irish also have early enrollee Jaden Mickey in camp.

We don’t know how effective the Irish will be at cornerback in 2022, but this cast of characters will be interesting to watch if for no other reason than to see how deep they can go with such a drop-off of experience.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame Football Coaching Staff Wish List

The next Notre Dame football coaching staff dream team…

Notre Dame is looking for a new head coach after Brian Kelly bolted to Baton Rouge to head the LSU football program.  Where does athletic director Jack Swarbrick look after the tidal wave Kelly left in his wake?

The good news is Swarbrick shouldn’t have to travel very far to fill the suddenly open spot and that the program was clearly left in a great place.

So what would a dream Notre Dame coaching staff look like at the end of this coaching search?

Here’s the Notre Dame dream team that Swarbrick can start to piece together:

Notre Dame lands another four-star offensive lineman

Did you expect this one?

Notre Dame has landed the 22nd commitment in their 2022 recruiting class as offensive tackle Aamil Wagner of Wayne High School in Dayton, Ohio announced his pledge on Thursday.

Wagner is listed at 6-6, 265-pounds and chose Notre Dame from the over-25 scholarship offers he received.  Among those were Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Northwestern, and plenty of others.

Also on that list was the University of Kentucky where Wagner’s brother is a graduate assistant.

Wagner is listed as a four-star prospect on both 247Sports and Rivals.  247Sports lists him as the 11th best offensive tackle prospect in this recruiting cycle while Rivals has him 23rd.

Wagner shared with 247Sports why he chose Notre Dame:

“I choose Notre Dame because the coaches made the university feel like home and I felt that Notre Dame can not only provide me with a great football career but can put me in the best position for life after football” – Aamil Wagner

Wagner becomes the fourth Notre Dame offensive line commitment in the 2022 class, joining Ashton Craig, Ty Chan, and Joey Tanona, all of which also have four-star ratings.

Offensive line coach Jeff Quinn deserves credit for pulling in this commitment as the Irish.  It’s also worth noting that Wagner attends the same high school that Notre Dame assistant coaches Marcus Freeman and Mike Mickens attended so even they coach the other side of the ball, I’d imagine that connection didn’t hurt, either.

This is a huge commitment that feels like when you find a fifty dollar bill in a pair of dress pants you hadn’t worn in years.

Related:

Meet all 22 commitments in Notre Dame’s current 2022 recruiting class

See it – Notre Dame’s map to a College Football Playoff berth

Notre Dame among finalists for elite Ohio offensive tackle

Notre Dame receives commitment from 3-star safety recruit Devin Moore

There’s another secondary commitment for the Irish.

At the start of the weekend, Notre Dame’s future secondary received a boost with the commitment of cornerback recruit Jayden Bellamy. Now, it can say it’s receiving a second boost. This time, it’s coming from the safety position. The latest player to say yes to Notre Dame is three-star recruit Devin Moore of Naples, Florida, who made his official visit less than a month ago and received an offer from the Irish in May 2020:

Like Bellmary, Moore was a target of Marcus Freeman and cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens. Both players also will join the Irish for the 2022 season. To have this coaching duo make this kind of progress this quickly is nothing short of amazing, and it only can help.

The Irish had to battle with a plethora of schools to land Moore. They included Alabama, Stanford, Florida State, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, South Carolina, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Michigan State, Michigan, Nebraska, Mississippi State, Iowa State and Vanderbilt.

Notre Dame lands 3-star cornerback recruit Jayden Bellamy

The Irish have a new future cornerback.

Notre Dame’s secondary will be getting a big boost after the coming season. Jayden Bellamy, a three-star cornerback and Oradell, New Jersey, native who plays at Bergen Catholic, has committed to the Irish:

Bellamy, who made an official visit to Notre Dame on June 18, chose the Irish after previously narrowing his selection down to them, Rutgers and Penn State. Before that, he had a slightly bigger finalist field of Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma.

When asked by Blue and Gold why he picked the Irish, Bellamy, the 17th commitment among players who will arrive in South Bend in 2022, said the following:

“Academics played a big part, and I bonded the best with Coach [Mike] Mickens, Coach [Marcus] Freeman and the whole staff. When I was with them during the visit, we were making a lot of jokes, and ever since they offered me, they went after me hard. That played a part, too.”

The Irish stand to lose only a few senior cornerbacks after the 2021 season. The majority of that unit is made up of freshmen and sophomores. By the time Bellamy comes, that group will have gotten to know each other a lot. There will be no shortage of players to show him the ropes. The best part for Bellamy is this is the group he will consider his brothers going forward.