Tag: notre dame fighting irish recruiting

Irish Offer Two Class of 2021 Prospects On Sunday

Notre Dame was busy this weekend and it continued on Sunday with two offers out to prospects in the 2021 class.

The Notre Dame staff took Saturday “off” this weekend, offers went out on Friday night and then again yesterday. Two new verbal offers went to the 2021 class, which currently has 10 commitments and ranked as the 10th overall class by the 247Sports composite.

The first reported offer went out to Tennessee linebacker Prince Kollie. The Irish joined Georgia, Oklahoma, Auburn and others in offering the 6’2” and 200-pound athlete.

Although he is listed as a linebacker, Kollie could end up playing a variety of positions such, running back and safety along with linebackers. The talented athlete does a variety of things for his high school team, rushing from the edge, lining up as a hybrid safety, taking passes the distance as a wide receiver as well. Kollie is the type of athlete you want on your team and can figure out what to do with later when his body matures.

[protected-iframe id=”adb7c586463e20f4bf95bc86cda919a9-162776928-178902091″ info=”//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/9889310/5dc8a6217bdd490dfc65caac” width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””]

The second offer on Sunday went out to Georgia’s 6’0” and 195-pounds safety Kaleb Edwards. He holds offers from Stanford and Northwestern, which means that Edwards fit the academic profile the Irish are looking for.

Not only is he a standout in the classroom but on the field as well. Edwards bring a physical attitude to the secondary but has good enough hands to take passes the other way. His willingness to come into the box and make plays is impressive, something you love seeing from downhill safeties.

[protected-iframe id=”bf04c2c85dfb7f47b0e70735bb539811-162776928-178902091″ info=”//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/8429430/5ddb36b8b023750d90baca0c” width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””]

The Irish do not have any of their 10 verbals at the linebacker position, a need that Kollie could fill. In the secondary, corner Philip Riley and safety Justin Walters are in the bank, and Edwards would be a welcome addition to the group. Brian Kelly and his staff are still working hard at the 2021 cycle and both Kollie and Edwards are names to watch going forward.

Running back with Irish offer Commits to National Champs

Notre Dame offer Corey Kiner of Ohio commits to LSU taking yet another name off the Irish’s running back recruiting board.

Yet another name can be crossed off Notre Dame’s running back big board as Ohioan Corey Kiner has committed to LSU today. The Tigers just got involved in Kiner’s recruitment, offering him just a little more than 6 weeks ago.

Kiner was a prospect that I thought made a ton of sense for the Irish to go hard after. The Irish have had good luck with prospects from the Cincinnati area, but this just wasn’t meant to be. That seems like the trend with running backs in this cycle, as Notre Dame has missed out on a lot of their early offers at the position, with North Carolina’s Will Shipley going to Clemson hurting the most.

The Irish must now go out and look for a running back that they didn’t expect to go all that hard after, but that is the roller coaster called recruiting. At this point in time I would expect for Brian Kelly to turn his focus onto Michigan’s Donovan Edwards and Texas’ Prophet Brown. If neither of them work out, look for the Irish to go after Louisiana’s Logan Diggs and Texas’ Alton McCaskill. All four of these prospects have Notre Dame offers and each one of them would look fantastic wearing Blue and Gold.

Irish Offer Two New Tight Ends in 2022 Class

The Notre Dame staff was busy yesterday with the ’22 class, offering two tight ends to continue the vast tradition at the position.

The Irish have been hitting the recruiting trail hard, as they continue to verbally offer prospects in both the 2021 and 2022 classes. Yesterday, Brian Kelly was looking towards the future in offering two prospects who could continue the long tradition of talented tight ends to don the Blue and Gold.

Ben Gosnell of North Carolina was first to tweet out the offer, has seen his recruitment heat up. In the last week Penn State and Georgia offered the 6’4” and 220-pound athlete.

[protected-iframe id=”8b68dc7e5af34926af2437cb6d6192bf-162776928-178902091″ info=”//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/8316952/5e14a619d21abf0b30f9a943″ width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””]

 

Watch as Gosnell lines up all over the field and makes plays. Getting a little deeper into his highlight reel and you’ll see big number 6 lining up in the backfield taking handoffs. Gosnell is one hell of an athlete, check out this backflip he seemingly casually pulls off. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

The other offer was out to Georgia’s Jack Nickel, who’s size is almost identical to Gosnell’s at 6’4” but weights a bit more at 230 pounds. The Irish join schools like Miami, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and others to offer Nickel.

Although Nickel is young, he already has a college ready body and it shows when watching his highlight tape. He blocks defensive ends with ease and almost never goes down on first contact. Nickel will be a force wherever he lines up at in the future.

[protected-iframe id=”569c52f7501fe930238c7bc6f76bd6d7-162776928-178902091″ info=”//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/11129856/5d74f7a42ab1690f448a85c6″ width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””]

There is a little caveat with both the offers to Gosnell and Nickel. They are good enough on the other side of the ball and both could potentially end up on playing defense. Gosnell’s athleticism could have him lining up as an outside linebacker while Nickel could put his hand down and play defensive end. Either way Kelly wants them both in South Bend and would figure out what position best suits the Irish later.

Another Notre Dame offer out to an top ’21 Running Back

That’s two days in a row for the Irish staff looking towards the Lone Star State for running back help.

The search for a class of 2021 running back for the Irish continues after yesterday saw Texas’ Alton McCaskill get an offer, today it was another Texan getting an offer in Johnathan (LJ) Johnson.

With Brian Kelly losing out on North Carolina’s Will Shipley, there has been a huge focus on securing an elite running back for the class. Johnson checks a lot of boxes with a 5’10” and 200-pound frame and his offer list shows he’s one of the country’s most wanted backs. Johnson holds offers from Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas and now the Irish have joined the fold. Johnson is ranked as the 43rd overall prospect nationally and 4th running back by the 247Sports composite.

[protected-iframe id=”c3b8da96793ed33468a6df7dbe255806-162776928-178902091″ info=”//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/10421054/5c11c01b15f5a20e4c10a8bb” width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””]

Johnson isn’t going to blow by many defenders but takes great angles due to his exceptional vision. He has a nose for the endzone and is a bruiser, punishing the opposing team running through arm tackles.

Kelly and his staff went all in for Shipley and came up second in his recruitment, which means they have to make some inroads with running backs they weren’t heavily recruiting. Multiple offers have gone out in the last two days to back as they continue to find who will fit in best with the 2021 class. A talent like Johnson’s would be more than welcomed into the Irish’s running back room.

Notre Dame Offers ’21 Texas RB

The Irish go out to the Lone Star State and offer a running back in the 2021 class.

Although the Irish missed out on North Carolina star RB Will Shipley yesterday, there are still plenty of big fish out there  for Brian Kelly to reel in. You can add a new name to the pool of ‘backs the Irish are after in Texas’ Alton McCaskill.

The 6’1” and 195-pound tailback from Oak Ridge High School has recently seen his recruitment blow up. In April McCaskill added offers from Florida State, Arkansas, Penn State, Virginia, Auburn, Michigan, USC and others. It shouldn’t be seen as a coincidence that after McCaskill ran a 10.91 100-meter dash that the offers started to pour in.

[protected-iframe id=”6be711208b9d574106ce2647356c2590-162776928-178902091″ info=”//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/10990536/5afafb85b0189307489a44e6″ width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=””]

Speed kills and McCaskill has plenty of it as his highlight reel shows. The burst is elite, he shows good hands out of the backfield and isn’t afraid to run between the tackles. McCaskill is ranked by the 247Sports composite as the 35th best back in the country and 515th overall prospect in the nation. His production last year is most likely why his rating is so low currently, just 845 yards on 121 carries (6.9 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns.

I love this offer to McCaskill, getting players from talent rich states like Texas, California and Florida always seem to be ready to contribute earlier over other states players. The Irish staff need to go hard after running backs after missing out on Shipley and offering McCaskill is a step in the right direction.

Newest Notre Dame Commit Coogan One of the Springs Best in Midwest

New Notre Dame offensive lineman Pat Coogan is among the best commits to Midwestern programs this spring.

This spring hasn’t been normal, what has, but that still hasn’t stopped recruiting in college football. Plenty of recruits are committing and today Josh Helmholdt of Rivals looked at the best commits in the Midwest this spring, with the Irish’s newest commit Pat Coogan making the list.

Coogan checked in at 8th on Helmholdt’s list, but that didn’t mean high praise wasn’t headed his way. “We may look back at Coogan as being the unsung hero of this Notre Dame 2021 class, despite the class already featuring four Rivals100 prospects. There is an argument to be made that Coogan’s value within a class exceed his individual rating because of his versatility.” Coogan at 6’4” and 287 pounds is seen an offensive lineman that could play any of the 3 positions, depending on how his body fills out once he hits campus.

It seems like a common theme to rank Coogan lower than he should be. Take a look at his offer list which includes LSU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma, three of the four College Football Playoff teams from last year. A recruit who has those kinds of offers is usually ranked much higher than Coogan is currently, ranked as the 36th best tackle in the country by Rivals.

I feel as if Coogan will outplay his ranking, whatever it ends up being prior to his arrival on campus next year. Brian Kelly went next door to Illinois and got a very good prospect in Pat Coogan.

Where Notre Dame Stands with ’21 WR Thornton According to Rivals

Rivals ranks the top contenders for Thornton’s commits and the Irish have some work to do to catch up.

Recently Rivals has done a series of articles where they take a look at a prospects top list and rank the contenders for their verbal commitment. After Maryland WR Don’t’e Thornton released his Top 12 schools this weekend, Rivals recruiting analyst Adam Friedman ranked the contenders for Thornton’s pledge.

The way Friedman see’s the star WR’s recruiting going at the moment has the Irish running third, behind Oregon and Penn State. Although Oregon is the first school that is mentioned, “If the Ducks are in the lead for Thornton, it isn’t by much.” This bodes well for Notre Dame’s recruitment of the 6’5” and 195-pound star.

Previously Thornton had been committed to Penn State, backing off his verbal in August of last year. Although rare, players have recommitted to their original school, and Thornton is continuing to have a relationship with the Nittany Lion’s staff. What the do have going for them at the moment is fresh faces, as James Franklin had to replace his WR coach with Taylor Stubblefield and his offensive coordinator with Kirk Ciarrocca, who just coached arguably the best pair of WR’s in the country last year at Minnesota.

Being in third place isn’t a bad spot to be for the Irish, as Thornton “was on campus last summer and really enjoyed the atmosphere.” It gave him a feel similar to his high school, which is always a plus in recruiting. Notre Dame has an opportunity to add another talented WR to their roster and it looks like the Irish will hope that they can edge out the other top contenders.

See Which Notre Dame Football Targets Made Rivals Top 100 for 2022

Rivals took the week to release their Top 100 for 2022, Notre Dame targets littered their list.

Throughout this past week Rivals has been releasing their Top 100 prospects for the 2022 class, day by day but without exact rankings. It may seem like a quite a way from either 2022 signing day, but it’s never to early to take a look at who stands out as some of the best prospects around the nation.

The Irish currently do not have any prospects committed for the ’22 class, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t hard at work trying to secure commits from some of the best players in the nation. Monday’s set of highlighted players with Irish offers saw Florida OT Julian Armella (5-Star), Wisconsin Safety Braelon Allen, Illinois Athlete Kaleb Brown, and Ohio LB Gabe Powers. Even tough Massachusetts LB Tyler Martin doesn’t hold an offer, Rivals Mike Farrell sees the Irish as a player in his recruitment. Brown and Powers are players that their experts see the Irish standing out for at the current moment.

Tuesday saw Wisconsin OT Joe Brunner, California WR Tetairoa McMillan, and Nevada OLB Cyrus Moss all named, all holding Irish offers. Farrell sees Brunner as a tough pull from to get out of state as the Badgers are viewed as the team to beat. The Irish are seen as a few schools that stand out early to McMillan and Moss while Michigan’s Will Johnson doesn’t hold an offer, but like Martin, Notre Dame is squarely in his recruitment.

The midweek group of players included California WR CJ Williams, Maryland DE Dani Dennis-Sutton, Colorado RB Gavin Sawchuk, Kansas S Dasan McCullough and Illinois WR Tyler Morris. In-state QB Brady Allen doesn’t hold a Notre Dame offer, but Farrell believes if that were to happen, the Irish would be right in the mix for the talented signal caller. Of the players who hold Irish offers, Williams, Sawchuk and Morris, the Blue and Gold are in the mix for their commitments.

Thursday once again saw players that have already caught the Irish’s eyes in Maryland OLB Jaishawn Barham, California Athlete Kamari Ramsey, and Pennsylvania RB Nicholas Singleton. Farrell sees Notre Dame as a team Ramsey is highly considering. New Jersey OT Jacob Allen and Ohio OT Blake Miller don’t hold an offer currently, but Farrell sees the Irish as a contender for his commitment if they throw their hat in the ring.

The final set of players on Friday had Ohio S CJ Hicks, Wisconsin C Carson Hinzman, Texas RB Emeka Megwa, and Florida DE Shemar Stewart. Farrell likes Notre Dame’s chances with Hicks and Hinzman as their recruitments pick up. No offer for Virginia DE Bryce Carter, but Farrell thinks if that offers comes from Brian Kelly and staff, the Irish could potentially stand out for Carter.

The recruitment for the 2022 class is just starting the heat up and there are many encouraging signs early on for an elite group of prospects to ultimately end up in South Bend. Brian Kelly and his staff have done a great job early of identifying top talent and offering them early. Hopefully this early work on the class has big time results later on.

Notre Dame Makes Florida DB Riley’s Top 7

The Irish coaching staff has made a very good impression on the DB after making a verbal offer just last week.

Although the dead period has been extended through the end of April, recruiting is still in full go and last night class of 2021 defensive back Philip Riley released his Top 7 schools going forwards. It was a pleasant surprise to see Notre Dame on the list after just offering Riley a little over one week ago.

The rest of the Florida’s stars Top 7 schools are all out of state, but Riley is not a native of the state, having moved there last year from Washington. The move payed off big time for Riley, as a huge junior season has seen his recruitment blow up, adding offers from USC, WVU, Miami, FSU and others in addition to his Top 7. His academic profile fits well with the Irish as well, with offers from Duke and Vanderbilt backing that up.

The defender has fantastic size for a corner, standing 6’0” and weighing 187-pounds, which on paper looks like a college-ready body. When watching his highlights, which you can see right here, his Bloomingdale High School teams plays a majority of man principles which plays anywhere.

Although Riley is unable to visit South Bend until the NCAA’s dead period is over, what Brian Kelly and his staff have done to impress the defensive back has been remarkable. If the coaching staff is able to continue to expand their relationship with Riley, there a potential the Irish won’t just make his Top 7 list.

Eric Reed Jr. puts UGA in top-four, sets commitment time

The Georgia Bulldogs, Auburn Tigers, LSU Tigers and Notre Dame are in Eric Reed Jr.’s top schools. Reed will be making his commitment soon.

The Georgia Bulldogs are among the top four for Eric Reed Jr., who will be making his commitment soon. Reed Jr. has LSU, Auburn, Georgia, and Notre Dame in his top four schools.

Reed Jr. is four-star safety and plays high school at Calvary Baptist Academy. He is from Shreveport, Louisiana. He’s committing on the last day of the early signing period. I’d bet the SEC Championship Game will have a big impact on his decision. Georgia is currently considered the front-runner for Reed Jr.

He announced his top schools and his commitment time via Twitter:

Eric Reed Jr. is not to be confused current Carolina Panthers safety and former LSU Tigers safety Eric Reid. Reed may be the next great UGA safety. He may take the place of senior safety J.R. Reed, who is headed for the NFL after this season.

Junior safety Richard LeCounte may leave for the NFL as well, but his stock may drop after facing elite passing offenses to end the season. LeCounte must improve the angles he takes on certain plays, but has made numerous huge plays this season.

[lawrence-auto-related count=1]