Tag: nolan ziegler

Notre Dame football 2022 defensive recruit wishlist

A look at which defensive players with Notre Dame offer that would be great additions to the 2022 recruiting class.

A few weeks ago, I took a look at which Notre Dame recruits on offense who currently held offers and could potentially join the growing 2022 class. Realistically, some of them could join, some of them might end up elsewhere, but one can wish right? We’ll, it’s time for the other side of the ball, my ’22 defense recruit wishlist for the Irish.

Watch: Notre Dame Linebacker Commit Nolan Ziegler Makes Plays

Among the remaining participants in this Michigan high school football playoffs entering Saturday was Catholic Central.

Among the remaining participants in the Michigan high school football playoffs entering Saturday was Catholic Central. That team has Notre Dame linebacker commit Nolan Ziegler. During Saturday’s game against Davison, Ziegler showed why he’s heading to the next level:

Ziegler, a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, committed to the Irish in August. He was recruited by Clark Lea and Jeff Quinn while also fielding offers from such schools as Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Virginia Tech and Boston College. He has another year of high school, and new Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman will have had a year under his belt by the time Ziegler arrives in South Bend, so there will be some stability with the defensive scheme at that point. In the meantime, he can continue to develop into a more complete player.

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.

Notre Dame Descendant Gets Scholarship Offer from Irish

If your grandmother was once Joe Montana’s tutor you’d be more than a little excited to get a scholarship offer to Notre Dame, too.

If your grandfather was a former national champion linebacker, your great-uncle was a backup quarterback and your grandmother tutored perhaps the the biggest football star to ever come from the same university, one might say that particular school is in your blood.

That’s the case for high school junior Nolan Ziegler, a 6-4, 205 pound safety with a 3.85 GPA from Catholic Central in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Ziegler is a class of 2022 prospect and is the grandson of ’73 Notre Dame national champion linebacker, Tim Sullivan.  He’s also the great-nephew of former backup Irish signal caller, Fred Trosko, Jr., who was a sophomore on that ’73 title squad.

Then on top of all that, Ziegler’s grandmother that married Tim Sullivan was in Notre Dame’s first female class and tutored the legendary Joe Montana.

Wednesday saw Ziegler get his own attention from Notre Dame as the three-star safety received a scholarship offer from Brian Kelly and company.

Ziegler’s clearly got bloodline to the University of Notre Dame that few can compare to.  I can understand both sides of it for the now Notre Dame target as for one, you get to carry on a family legacy of attending Notre Dame, but on the other hand, I would fully understand if he’d eventually want to go somewhere and not constantly be seen as “the guy with a ton of family members from there”.

Congratulations to Ziegler on the offer as Notre Dame joins the likes of Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska and a handful of MAC schools to have offered a scholarship.

Related:  Notre Dame’s 2020 Recruiting Class Commitments