Tag: ND Football Recruiting

Notre Dame OT commit Fisher gets his 5th Star

The huge offensive tackle has moved up in Rivals rankings and was awarded a 5th start his morning.

The Irish scored a huge recruiting win when the best prospect in Indiana, offensive tackle Blake Fisher, decided to stay home and play football in South Bend. Fisher has been at the cusp of adding one more star next to his name and this morning that became a reality.

The designation for Fisher is a huge accomplishment. Rivals only has twenty total 5-Star prospects in the 2021 class and the mammoth tackle checks in as the 19th overall play in the nation. The 6-foot-6-inch and 330-pound lineman will arrive with extremely high expectations. There will be an opportunity for Fisher to contribute his freshman year as the offensive line will lose multiple players to graduation. Fisher is the highest ranked offensive line commit for the Irish since Tommy Kraemer signed in 2016.

Fisher could very well start his career at guard, as he has shown positional versatility which could help him get on the field very quickly. That will depend on how offensive line coach Jeff Quinn feels he fits best, but I’m sure that Quinn is just happy that Fisher will be wearing the Blue and Gold next year. We are all excited about Fisher’s potential, a well deserved congratulations to one of the best players, not just lineman, in the country.

Notre Dame Football: Irish active with offers this weekend

The Irish continue to hit the recruiting trail hard, offering two more prospects on Saturday.

It has been a trend over the last week with the Notre Dame Football coaching staff hitting the recruiting trail hard and giving out offers. With the lack of summer camps, evaluations are based on last years film, even with some states playing high school football in the fall. On Saturday, Brian Kelly went to St. Louis and offered class of 2022 defensive back Toriano Pride.

Pride has recently seen his recruitment start to heat up, as the 5-foot-11-inch and 172-pound cornerback has added Oregon, Ohio State and Kentucky offers prior to the Irish offering yesterday. Watching his highlight reel you see a very polished defender, who has great coverage skills and isn’t afraid to come up and make a hit. If there is one visible area where Pride would need to improve is his hands, he’s active when quarterbacks decide to challenge him, but often he can’t quite take the ball away.

The other offers that Notre Dame gave out on Saturday was to California athlete Larry Turner-Gooden.

Turner-Gooden is viewed as a potential wide receiver or safety at the next level. He is the kind of athlete that you get on campus and worry about a position later. A 6-foot tall and 179-pounds, Turner-Gooden has impress many schools across the nation including Alabama, LSU, Clemson, LSU and USC. Personally, if I had to choose where Turner-Gooden would play, it would be on the defensive side. His anticipation skills are off the charts, he shows great hands and is a big time playmaker. You can see his exploits here.

Both the offer to Pride and Turner-Golden are very solid. Each of them possess high skill levels and that should translate to the next level. Kelly and his staff have really hit recruiting hard recently, and it has shown. The 2021 class now has 18 commits and ranks at the 11th best class in the country according to the 247Sports composite. The ’22 class now has three commits after Nolan Ziegler made his pledge yesterday, and ranks as the 4th best in the country.

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.

Notre Dame gets defensive in ’22, offers North Carolina LB Hamrick

The Fighting Irish offer yet another class of ‘22 prospect, this time in North Carolina with linebacker Malaki Hamrick.

The Irish have narrowed in on some of the best prospects in the 2022 class and have been very active recently with dolling out offers. Another one when out to North Carolina outside linebacker Malaki Hamrick yesterday.

At the current moment Hamrick is ranked as the 142nd player in the 247Sports composite, while being the 12th rated outside linebacker. What’s intriguing about Hamrick is the potential versatility as his body matures. At 6-foot-4-inches and 200-pounds, Hamrick could eventually grown out of his current position and end up on the defensive line.

Either way, Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator Clark Lea want the talented defender. His stat line from his sophomore campaign is extremely impressive, amassing 129 tackles, taking down the quarterback 19 times, and getting 39 tackles for loss. You can watch is exploits right here.

The Irish are getting to Hamrick at the right time, his recruitment has yet to go national although he does report offers from North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and a few others. He was named as a MaxPreps Preseason Junior 2nd team All-American, so the talent is there. A great offer by Kelly and staff, which hopefully with catch the eye of the elite defender.

Offers flowing out of South Bend again, Irish after top Texas RB Blue

Notre Dame goes out to the Lone Star state to offer Jaydon Blue, one of the best running backs in the country.

We have noted that the Notre Dame coaching staff is really working hard on the recruiting trail, specifically the 2022 and 2023 classes just this week. Yet another offer went out today, this time to Texas’ star running back Jaydon Blue.

Blue is viewed as one of the best in the nation, as he was named by Rivals as their top running back and 247Sports has him ranked as their 4th best running back. Multiple schools have noticed Blue already including Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, USC and a load of other top schools. He is currently reporting 29 offers and Blue has yet to play a down in his junior year, pretty damn impressive.

Although Blue isn’t the tallest running back, at just 5-foot-10-inches, he’s compact and runs very balanced. Shows good hands and has breakaway speed. Just watch his highlights and it’s easy to see why he’s so highly regarded by collegiate teams.

That now makes six running backs offered in the 2022 class, the second one this week behind Damari Alston. The Irish have two commits in that class, offensive tackle Joey Tanona and tight end Jack Nickel, and would love to see Blue being added to the group.

Notre Dame offers class of ’23 star DE Moore

The Fighting Irish get in the game early by offering rising-sophomore defensive end Jason Moore.

The Fighting Irish coaching staff has been hard at work on the recruiting trail recently, adding multiple commits and offering plenty of class of 2022 players. It was time to dip into the 2023 class as Maryland’s Jason Moore was offered by Brian Kelly and staff yesterday.

Moore is entering his sophomore year at powerhouse DeMatha Catholic and they know a thing or two about elite defensive ends, this past year’s number two overall draft pick Chase Young prepped there before heading off to Ohio State. At 6-foot-6-inches and 255-pounds, it seems like Moore could enroll in college now. The Irish joined LSU, Michigan, Penn State, USC and others for the underclassman’s verbal. He was recently ranked as the 24th best overall prospect in the country by 247Sports.

This is just the 6th offer the Irish have given out to player in the 2023 class, all on the defensive side. None of those players have yet to commit to the Irish at this early juncture in the class. The 2023 recruiting class seems very far away, but it’s great to see the Notre Dame coaching staff hard at working trying to get ahead of the game for these elite prospects.

Notre Dame continues offering ’22 prospects, RB Alston the newest

The Irish staff is hard at work in the 2022 recruiting class, as yet another offer to Georgia running back Damari Alston today.

It might seem like a broken record, but the Notre Dame staff has put their focus now on the 2022 recruiting class. Monday it was quarterbacks, earlier today an offer went of to offensive lineman Ty Chan and now Georgia running back Damari Alston has reported a verbal offer from the Irish staff.

The schools that have offered the 5-foot-11-inch and 200-pound back is impressive, Alabama, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State and many others have offered the Atlanta star. Alston already possesses a college-ready body, ran for 889 yards with 10 touchdowns last year. His hands a solid as well, as he grabbed 22 passes for 161 yards and 2 TD’s during his sophomore campaign.

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A punishing runner who isn’t afraid of contact, just doesn’t go down with arm tackles. Alston’s thick lower half helps him churn out yardage after contact. Although he is not super-shifty, he’s got plenty of moves to get into the open field, going north and south has never really hurt a running back.

Alston becomes the fifth running back offered in the class of 2020 by Brian Kelly and running back’s coach Lance Taylor. It seems like losing out on North Carolina’s Will Shipley has made the staff change a bit on how they will approach recruiting running backs. By going after multiple prospects, the Irish are assuring themselves that they won’t have to scramble to find a replacement if their top options don’t end up in South Bend. There are two commits in the ’22 class in offensive tackle Joey Tanona and tight end Jack Nickel and adding Alston would be a great addition.

Irish out to the east coast for newest ’22 offer

The Notre Dame coaching staff is hard at work with the 2022 recruiting class, offering jumbo athlete Ty Chan this morning.

It seems as if the Notre Dame coaching staff has turned their attention to the 2022 recruiting class, as they have been very busy with prospects on that side of the ball. On Monday, Brian Kelly and his staff offered two quarterbacks in this class and this morning after a talk with offensive line coach Jeff Quinn, an offer went out to Massachusetts’s jumbo athlete Ty Chan.

Chan has a fantastic frame, standing 6-foot-5-inches and weighing 265-pounds, with his versatility being a huge plus. What’s impressive is that Chan looks small and will be able to add more weight while keeping his athleticism. When you recruit a player like Chan, you get him on campus and figure out what position he plays later . With coach Quinn leading the charge on his recruitment, look for Chan to start on the offensive side of the line if he become’s part of the Notre Dame family.

Chan had offers from Nebraska and Penn State prior to getting the Irish offer this morning. Although the state of Massachusetts isn’t a football hotbed, they still produce a decent amount of talent, freshman wide receiver Jay Brunelle hails from the state. Look for Chan’s recruitment to heat up in the coming months.

Right now, Notre Dame has two commits in the ’22 class, instate offensive tackle Joey Tanona and Georgia tight end Jack Nickel. The two of them give the Irish at top 10 class, 8th overall by the 247Sports composite, at this early juncture in the 2022 recruiting cycle.

Notre Dame offers two class of 2022 quarterbacks

The Fighting Irish football staff offered their first two quarterbacks of the 2022 recruiting cycle.

The Irish had yet to offer a quarterback in the class of 2022, but that all changed yesterday as two offers went out to signal callers. First Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees offered Kentucky’s Gavin Wimsatt.

Wimsatt is exactly what the Irish are looking for in a quarterback prospect. Great size at 6-foot-3-inch and 200-pounds possessing a rocket arm. In the past few years, the Notre Dame staff has moved towards more dual-threat options at the position and Wimsatt is exactly that. He threw for 31 touchdowns last year while running in 12 more, Wimsatt showed he can excel through the air and on the ground.

Next it was New Jersey’s Steven Angeli’s turn to get the coveted Irish offer.

Although Angeli isn’t currently ranked by the 247Sports composite, his offer list is telling enough that he will be a nationally recruited prospect. Already holding verbal offers from LSU, Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, Angeli is a wanted quarterback. At 6-foot-3-inches and 210-pounds, Angeli’s measurables are almost identical to Wimsatt’s.

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You might notice that Angeli’s twitter background photo is of him at Penn State, well one of their insiders, Sean Fitz, became the second person to crystal ball Angeli to Notre Dame after the offer. This bodes very well for his recruitment in the future.

Both the offers to Wimsatt and Angeli put the Irish staff on the right track in their hunt for a 2022 quarterback. Either of them would fit great in the Notre Dame offense, both players would be more than welcome additions and we will continue to monitor their recruitments here at Fighting Irish Wire.

Scout’s view: Newest Notre Dame commit LB Will Schweitzer

Take a look at what can be expected in the future out of the Irish’s newest commit, linebacker Will Schweitzer.

The Notre Dame Football coaching staff realized there was a need at linebacker and have quickly made up for lost time. First it was Prince Kollie from Tennessee and today they got the spatula out and flipped former Nebraska commit Will Schweitzer.

Let’s take a look at what to expect out of the newest Irish commit Schweitzer.

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The first thing that jumps out is Schweitzer’s size, at 6-foot-4-inches and 220-pounds, he looks skinny with room to add good weight on. What I love is his versatility, being able to line up with one hand in the ground or roaming the middle of the field and just reacting to the play. Schweitzer shows a variety of moves from defensive end, often going to his favorite spin move to elude offensive linemen. He plays sideline to sideline and when he matures and just focuses on defense (he plays tight end on offense), Schweitzer has a huge ceiling. He reads plays well and has an endless motor, Schweitzer looks like a perfect hybrid outside linebacker, playing off the line when needed and rushing the passer on obvious situations.

Brian Kelly and defensive line coach Clark Lea got a good one Sunday night, filling a need at linebacker and adding to an impressive 2021 class. Schweitzer is the 18th total commit, putting the Irish class at 12th nationally according to the 247Sports composite.