Tag: Pat Coogan

FIW Exclusive: Interview with Notre Dame ‘21 commit Pat Coogan

Our very own Michael Chen checks in with Notre Dame 2021 commit Pat Coogan as he updates his weird offseason and what’s next for him.

The lone state in the Midwest where fall high school football isn’t being played in the fall is Illinois. So, Michael Chen decided to check in with one of Notre Dame’s Illinois commits, offensive lineman Pat Coogan, on what his future holds before he arrives to South Bend. Check out our interview as we discuss what Coogan has been doing preparing for a spring season, the process of getting the coveted Irish offer and his ensuing commitment, a potential pipeline from Illinois to Notre Dame and much more.

[jwplayer GOaYHbl7]

 

Notre Dame Recruiting update: Two new commits, Styles Jr. falls short and more

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

We are back to look at the week that was in Notre Dame recruiting. Already this week there has been plenty of action, from Philip Riley committing back into the 2021 class, the addition of 2021 elite kicker Josh Bryan but that’s not all that has been happening. The Irish have made it to later stages of a few elite players recruitments, multiple preferred walk-on spots offered and more. Also, stay tuned for a Fighting Irish Wire exclusive interview with 2021 offensive line commit Pat Coogan tomorrow.

Notre Dame Football: Meet the 2021 Recruiting Commitments

Find out more about Notre Dame’s stars of tomorrow right here in the 2021 recruiting class commitments!

Notre Dame had big dreams of their 2021 recruiting class and despite not hitting a home run on their most desired playmaker and one of the nation’s top receivers dropping his commitment, the Fighting Irish still stand in pretty good shape.

The Irish have 20 commitments in the 2021 class and are ranked 11th nationally according to 247Sports. Although it’s not what Brian Kelly had in mind when he stated his goal was to land a class in the top five, it’s one with a bunch of high-side potential players who offer a lot of versatility where they can line up.

Here are the commitments in Notre Dame’s 2021 recruiting class. Be sure to check back often and see who has been added or removed themselves from the list.

Current commit joins Rees in pursuit of ‘23 star WR Tate

There is a current commit that has been in the ear of elite wide receiver Carnell Tate. His efforts seem to be working.

Once again, I had the pleasure of speaking with 2023 wide receiver Carnell Tate, this time in person at Prep RedZone’s Showcase in suburban Chicago. A quick chat with Tate brought out an interesting tidbit regarding his recruitment with Notre Dame.

When I asked about who was recruiting him the hardest right now, Tate’s answer should be getting Irish Nation pretty excited. Tate said, “I definitely say Notre Dame because Pat Coogan has been recruiting me. Talking to me a lot. Like whenever I wear another school, he’s on me about it.”

It seem’s like what Coogan is preaching to Tate is working. The six-foot-two-and-a-half-inch pass catcher arrived in a Fighting Irish long-sleeve shirt.

Although it’s kind of hard to see, you can take my word for it. Tate was wearing a Notre Dame shirt.

What’s next for Tate in his recruitment is getting back to the coaches that have offered him; which also include Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and others. He is the only offer out to an offensive player in the class for the Irish.

Don’t be surprised when other schools step up and offer Tate, it’s just a matter of time. What we hope is that it’s just a matter of time when Tate commits to the Irish.

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.

Watch: Highlights of newest Notre Dame commit Rocco Spindler

Notre Dame just beefed up their offensive line in the years to come as Rocco Spindler, a prized guard in the ’21 class announed.

Notre Dame landed one of the biggest fish in the 2021 recruiting class on Saturday when offensive guard Rocco Spindler announced his decision to join the Fighting Irish ahead of other finalists Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State and LSU.

Spindler is regarded as one of the best offensive guards in this entire class and is in the second highest rated offensive line recruit Brian Kelly has ever brought to Notre Dame.  The surprising part of that is that no, it’s not Quenton Nelson that the honor goes to but instead still current Fighting Irish tackle, Tommy Kraemer.

We could write about the excitement the commitment from Spindler brings, especially on a day that it felt like we were headed towards a doomsday for college football in 2020.

However, instead of reading all about it, let’s watch the player Notre Dame just picked up a commitment from and who will help continue to build upon the legacy of O-Line U.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKmupmOMYcI&w=560&h=315]

Who Do The Irish Turn to Now at Offensive Tackle in ’21 Class?

Although Notre Dame missed out on Florida’s offensive tackle Caleb Johnson, there are still plenty of big fish out there.

The Irish missed out on one of their top offensive line targets today when Florida offensive tackle Caleb Johnson committed to Auburn. Johnson would have been a nice addition to the already committed tackle Blake Fisher and guard Pat Coogan and now Brian Kelly and offensive line coach Jeff Quinn will turn their attention to other prospects.

Of the current offensive tackles that have Irish offers it seems as if Pennsylvania’s Nolan Rucci is the biggest fish out there. A massive 6’8” frame is the prototype for a tackle and at 290-pounds Rucci looks skinny. Rucci should be first off the bus when his high school travels, he’s just a massive human. He moves extremely well for his size and will be able to add on good weight and end up around 320-pounds. Kelly and Quinn should turn the heat up on Rucci’s recruitment after the Irish were included in his Top 9 released last month.

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Staying with tackles the Irish realistically have a chance at securing a commit from, Texas’ Matthew Wykoff should be next on the list. The 6’6” and 300-pound Texan released a Top 7 without the Irish on it, but don’t worry, that was prior to getting an offer and making an impression on the young man. It will be hard to get him out of Texas, but if Brian Polian, who is his lead recruiter, can get in his ear often, the Irish will have a shot with Wykoff.

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Out east in Connecticut is another massive tackle in Tristan Bounds. Another first off the bus guy for his high school, Bounds stands also at 6’8” and weights 285-pounds. The Irish have made his Top 8 list and have a great shot at the bookend tackle. Bounds might not be as highly ranked as the other two tackles the Irish are persuing, but that shouldn’t matter much. He is talented and have a very high ceiling, even if he needs a few years to get acclimated to this level.

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As for guards, the Notre Dame staff has extended only three offers, Texas’ Donovan Jackson committed to Ohio State while Coogan verballed to the Irish last month. Michigan’s Rocco Spindler is the lone man standing at guard and the main competition looks to be from Michigan. Spindler will trim his list down from 10 schools to 5 a week from today, and expect the Irish to make the cut for the 6’4” and 290-pound prospect.

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The Irish have a great shot with all four of these prospects and there is bound to be a few new prospects that pop up between now and signing day. I am a huge fan of the way Kelly is attacking the offensive line, go after as many tackles as possible and if they need to move to guard, it’s a much easier transition. If I had to make a guess as to who the Irish end up with to finish the 2021 offensive line class it would be Spindler and Bounds. Time will tell if I am right, but the Irish are in good position with each of these prospects.

College Football Recruiting: Five Takeaways From ESPN 300

Notre Dame landed six players on the updated ESPN 300 list for 2021. What schools are impressing and who is disappointing in ’21 recruiting?

ESPN released their “ESPN 300”, their ranking of the 300 best prospects nationally in the 2021 college football recruiting class.  Here’s what we’ll do:

Here we’ll give you where the six Notre Dame commitments that checked in rank and then we’ll share a handful of observations about national recruiting beyond that.

Deal?

Cool.

Where Notre Dame players ranked:

QB Tyler Buchner – 39
TE Cane Berrong – 51
OT Blake Fisher – 103
DT Gabriel Rubio – 163
WR Lorenzo Styles, Jr. – 243
DE David Abiara – 280

Safety Justin Walters and offensive guard Pat Coogan, both of Illinois didn’t make the ESPN 300 but are also commitments to Notre Dame’s 2021 class.

Next:  Oh my, Ohio State…

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

Notre Dame Football: 2021 Commitment List

Bookmark this page as we’ll keep it updated and linked to everything on all of Notre Dame’s 2021 football commitments!

Notre Dame sits in a bit of an interesting spot in terms of recruiting with Brian Kelly having already been on the record about wanting to take a step in the caliber of talent the Fighting Irish bring in annually.  Kelly and his staff would probably be best described as having done a good but not great job in terms of recruiting in his decade at Notre Dame.

In Kelly’s now 11 classes he’s signed to Notre Dame, only once has a class finished in the top five of recruiting rankings (per 247Sports), that being the 2013 class that featured five-star talents Jaylon Smith and Max Redfield.  Other than that only three of the ten remaining class finished in the top ten, those coming in 2011 (ninth), 2017 (10th) and 2018 (10th).  The last two seasons have seen Notre Dame rank 16th (2019) and 17th (2020) by 247’s rankings.

So where does Notre Dame currently sit in terms of their commitments?  We’ll keep a running list for you to be able to easily use in the future.  As of posting, 247Sports ranks Notre Dame the 10th best class in 2021.  Obviously that can change relatively quickly with just one commitment or de-commitment from the class.

Here is who has committed to Notre Dame for the class of 2021 with a link to every post we’ve done that’s mentioned them in some capacity.  Bookmark it, refer back to it, do whatever it is you do because we’ll keep it updated until the class of 2021 becomes official months from now.

2021 Notre Dame Commitments:

It’s far from a complete class but clearly a lot of work remains over the next seven months or so.  Right now all eyes are on Will Shipley as Notre Dame, Clemson and perhaps North Carolina remain the front runners to land the star all-purpose back.

 

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.