Tag: Prince Kollie

Thoughts on Notre Dame’s depth chart ahead of Ohio State

Plenty of take aways from the seasons first depth chart

As in each year of college football, a new group of stars emerge from one season to another. This season will be no different and for Notre Dame, there are more then a few players who could make a significant leap in the eyes of college football fans everywhere. Here are a few observations on Marcus Freeman’s first regular season depth chart.

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ESPN names this group as Notre Dame’s biggest strength heading into ‘22

Depth is abundant

The season is still about eight months away but that won’t keep anyone from dreaming about what is to come this fall. Recently, ESPN looked at each of their projected Top-25 teams and named their biggest strength (insider).

For the Irish, who were ranked No. 6, Bill Connelly named the starting front seven of the defense as the biggest strength. He sees defensive linemen Isaiah Foskey and the Ademilola twins, Jayson and Justin, as major factors.

Depth is a big reason as well, as Connelly mentions “of the 10 linemen who played at least 100 snaps in 2021, eight currently return.” Another reason he’s bullish on this unit.

Next were the linebackers, JD Bertrand and Jack Kiser, getting singled out for their impressive past performances. Another interesting point was Connelly mentioning two players who have yet to officially suit-up for the Irish, linebackers Jaylen Sneed and Niuafe Tuihalamaka. He failed to mention rising sophomore Prince Kollie as a potential impact at the position as well. I think it’s safe to say the Irish defense will be a strong point during Marcus Freeman’s first season as the head coach.

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

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

One Notre Dame player makes 247Sports true freshman All-American team

Nobody expected this

If you asked many of us who would make the biggest impact from the incoming freshman class the likely answers would have been wide receiver Lorenzo Styles Jr., offensive tackle Blake Fisher or linebacker Prince Kollie.

That was not the case at the end of the year, as Styles Jr. got plenty of time flashing his potential, Fisher’s season was cut short by an injury and Kollie never really was able to crack the lineup. It was Minnesota freshman offensive tackle Joe Alt that ultimately stepped up into Fisher’s spot and once the converted tight end got rolling, it was hard for him to be stopped.

Alt was named today as a true-freshman All-American by 247Sports, an honor that we all did not expect to see this year. It’s a fantastic story, Alt’s transition from tight end to offensive tackle went as smooth as one could have expected. It’s safe to say that the Irish are in good hands at offensive tackle when Fisher returns from his injury and with Alt having extremely valuable experience during his freshman season.

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Notre Dame missing just one player on depth chart against Purdue

Two weeks in a row now this linebacker won’t be able to go

Many of us thought that the high school Butkus Award winner Prince Kollie would be a candidate to play early and often in his Irish career. He made the depth chart earlier this week, as the second string Will linebacker behind the early season breakout defensive star JD Bertrand.

This morning, unfortunate news as Notre Dame PR team has announced that Kollie will be unavailable for this afternoons contest against Purdue. This is the second week in a row that the freshman will be unable to hit the field for the Irish, putting a bit of a hold on his impact during his first year.

Many of us fully expect that Kollie will be a playmaker for the Irish, but as noted, he won’t be able to go against the Boilermakers today.

On3 Recruits names two Notre Dame players as 5-Stars in ‘21 class

A well deserved recognition for two incoming Notre Dame stars

Although it’s a new recruiting service, On3, founded by Shannon Terry who made major contributions to Rivals and 247Sports, has garnered a good deal of attention since their brand began earlier this year.

Today, they dropped their class of 2021 5-Star players in the 2021 class, the top 32 players in their estimation in the country. The list is a bit different than what we have seen before, as there are a few names that didn’t get the same recognition that On3 has given them today.

Two of Notre Dame’s 2021 commits made their list, linebacker Prince Kollie and athlete Lorenzo Styles Jr. Both are expect to have early impacts for the Irish this fall.

We knew that the 2021 class was talented, but for both Kollie and Styles Jr. the recognition was deserved. Kollie was given the high school Butkus Award, and Styles Jr. was a two-way star for Pickerington North.

Styles Jr. didn’t get as much recruiting “love” due to the fact that he wasn’t a one-trick-pony, excelling at wide receiver, where he’ll start his Notre Dame career, at cornerback and as a returner on special teams.

Big things are expected from both of these players and we expect that Kollie and Styles Jr. will make their marks in the Blue and Gold.

Report: Notre Dame still looking to add another ‘22 RB

Rumor has it…

The Notre Dame 2022 recruiting class is starting to fill up, with the commitment of cornerback Jaden Mickey, the class grew to 10 recruits.

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The spring is when student-athletes work on their games, hit the weight room and attended as many camps as they can. Those camps are usually flush with recruiting info and this past weekend, 247Sports Andrew Ivin’s had an Irish tidbit.

According to chatter around the Pylon 7-on-7 camp in Atlanta, Georgia, Notre Dame might not be satisfied with just one running back in the ‘22 class. Ivins reports that Tennessee’s Dallan Hayden is being recruited hard by the Irish staff. The main competition for his verbal pledge is Ohio State, and Hayden’s decision could come as early as this summer.

Just recently Jadarian Price committed to the Irish, the Texas star is viewed as one of the best in the nation.

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There pursuit of Hayden shouldn’t mean much to Price’s status with the class, they are different kind of players. The recently committed is more of a scat-back, while Hayden is certainly a bruiser at five-foot-eleven-inches and 195-pounds, outweighing Price by 15-pounds.

The Irish scored a big recruiting win in Tennessee last cycle with the commitment of linebacker Prince Collie. They’re looking for the same kind of success this cycle with Hayden.

Reload or rebuild for Notre Dame in 2021?

Will Notre Dame have a season where they struggle like in 2016 or will it be a prosperous season like this past season?

The list keeps growing with Notre Dame players making their intentions for next year known, many of them opting to move on instead of come back. Quarterback Ian Book, tackles Liam Eichenberg and Robert Hainsey, guards Tommy Kraemer and Aaron Banks, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, tight end Tommy Tremble, defensive lineman Ade Ogundeji, cornerback Houston Griffith transferring are just a few of the players on the move.

Recently, ESPN took a look at which schools have recruited the best (insider) to have success in 2021 due to their recruiting. Although Brian Kelly’s efforts have been great, they didn’t make the main portion of the article, the Irish were mentioned in the second group of teams.

Being on the list alone is a good omen for Notre Dame, as the list of players moving on that were major contributors from this past season is significant. Luckily, Kelly has done a great job accumulating talent in South Bend, giving hope that 2021 won’t have a similar result as the 2016 season did.

Per the ESPN article, the Irish will have 38 players returning to the 2021 roster at the current moment that were ranked inside their top 300. So what does that mean for the ‘21 season?

There will be some bumps in the road with many of the younger players getting their first significant amount of playing time, but that doesn’t mean it will be all bad. This past year saw multiple freshman (cornerback Clarence Lewis, tight end Michael Mayer, running back Chris Tyree, defensive end Rylie Mills and linebacker Jordan Botelho) each show flashes of their futures. The first three really shined and you can add Jordan Johnson to the list as well.

Second-year players like safety Kyle Hamilton, interior lineman Zeke Correll, defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey, running back Kyren Williams, linebacker Marist Liufau, and punter Jay Bramblett were major contributors. This group will need to continue to grow.

As for the 2018 class which was ranked in as the 10th best class nationally, they have struggled to make a significant mark. Griffith transferring along with quarterback Phil Jurkovec already leaving and wide receiver Kevin Austin unable to stay healthy has hurt the classes outlook. Those three were the top ranked players in the class. There, however, have been contributors from that class, with include linebacker Jack Lamb, wide receiver Braden Lenzy and tight end George Takacs, linebacker Bo Bauer and center Jarrett Patterson. This class needs to step up in a big way for the Irish to be successful this coming season.

I haven’t even touched on the potential incoming-freshman contributors, which include tackle Blake Fisher, wide receiver Deion Colzie, guard Rocco Spindler, quarterback Tyler Buchner, linebacker Prince Kollie and other talented players.

The schedule isn’t quite daunting, the first three games should give Kelly plenty of time to get the pups feet wet before their big contest against Wisconsin in Chicago.

In my opinion the Irish are not rebuilding, but they aren’t quite reloading. Having a regular spring schedule will be extremely important for this team. The reps and practice time will further develop the players who don’t have as much experience. We should not see another year like 2016.

Notre Dame Football: 2021 Early signing day superlatives

With the 2021 early signing period having come and gone, here are some superlatives for the Notre Dame Football recruiting class.

The early signing day has come and went, with it’s normal drama which the Irish saw plenty of. There was a surprise signature from Ron Powlus Jr., two Friday flips (from MSU Audric Estime and from LSU Khari Gee) while the Irish are battling instate LSU to retain the signature of running back Logan Diggs. As we look back on the 8th best recruiting class in the nation according to the 247Sports composite, let’s take a look a some superlatives for the newest incoming Notre Dame football stars of tomorrow.

Notre Dame recruit wins high school Butkus Award

Notre Dame didn’t have it’s fingerprints on just one Butkus Award Monday, but two. Details here.

For those who follow recruiting there has been a lot of chatter on the rise of Prince Kollie, the linebacker from Tennessee who just signed his national letter of intent to join Notre Dame’s 2021 recruiting class.

Kollie was first given a scholarship offer by Clark Lea and Notre Dame when he was just a three-star recruit before he committed in the late summer and ultimately signed his letter of intent last week.

Now Kollie is being recognized as one of the very best in the nation as the future member of the Fighting Irish was named the high school Butkus Award Winner as the nation’s top linebacker.

Current Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah won the collegiate Butkus Award on Monday as well, making him the third Irish player to receive the honor.

Notre Dame might not be where some wish them to be yet in terms of bringing home a national championship but this news is further proof of just how far this program has come in recent years.

And shows further detail of how important it was to keep Kollie part of this recruiting class after Lea took the Vanderbilt head coaching job.

Notre Dame Football: Early signing day prospect decisions to watch

There’s always plenty of drama on signing day, here are a few notable Notre Dame storylines to follow for tomorrow.

It has become increasingly common for the majority of prospects to verbally commit and then sign with their school of choice during the early signing period, which begins tomorrow. There is always drama on signing day, wether it is in mid-December or the traditional first Wednesday of February. Right now the Irish have 24 committed players, but that number could move. Here are a few things to watch for with Notre Dame players who have committed, aren’t committed, or could be on flip watch tomorrow.