Anthony McFarland Jr

Chris Miller is fast. He's quick and apparently, he's a quick learner as well.The 2017 Texas athlete hasn't played football long, but he's played long enough to attract the attention of the biggest college programs around the country."He basically played football for four years, I would really say three and a half because he lives far away from school and his freshman year, was late getting to practice every day," Miller's coach at Denton High School, Kevin Atkinson said."He's grown every year. He's mature, he's a hard worker. He's very explosive."The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder committed to Colorado over the summer, but has fielded new interest and offers from programs like Notre Dame, Baylor, Ole Miss and, most recently, Texas. He took an official visit to Baylor last weekend, will be in South Bend for an official this weekend and is slated to be at Ole Miss for an official next weekend.Miller had never even played receiver until he caught about 50 balls for around 10 touchdowns as a sophomore."As a junior, I started him at corner and he played every third down at receiver just because I believe defense wins championships," said Atkinson. "He did an outstanding job. "This year, as a senior, he played probably 100 snaps a game. He didn't come off the field offensively or defensively."Miller's speed is the first thing schools notice, but his attitude is just as impressive, according to his coach."He is an unbelievable kid," Atkinson said. "My son is senior, so he spends the night at my house all of the time. He's a great kid. He's an extremely hard worker. He's a guy with a huge upside."Schools seem torn about whether to play Miller on offense, defense or both. We're told Notre Dame likes him on defense, which is just fine with him."Usually, you have to talk kids into playing defense these days, but it doesn't matter to him," said Atkinson. "He likes playing defense, he likes playing offense. He just wants to contribute wherever he has a shot."Despite the pledge to Colorado, Atkinson believes Miller is "open," and his visit schedule would seem to affirm that."Notre Dame is one of those programs, when they call, you listen," the coach said. "He didn't really know that until we talked. I always sit down and give some counseling to those guys because it's their first time going through the experience. A lot of times, they aren't as aware as coaches are. We tell them, 'You need to listen to everything they say. You need to take a visit.' So, I think he's open."Atkinson said Miller has liked every place he's been, including Baylor."For him, I think it's going to come down to where he feels most comfortable, where he fits in and feels at home," the coach said. "He's a mature kid in the fact that he's got his mind open. He's immature in the fact that he's one of those kids who didn't grow up following college football and knowing the pageantry behind let's say Notre Dame. So, he's immature in that form because he just doesn't know. What I always told him is, 'You don't know what you don't know, so you need to go check things out to see what's the best possible fit for you.'"The coach expects Miller to learn plenty about Notre Dame this weekend."He understands the church part that goes along with Notre Dame," Atkinson said. "He's kind of learning about the tradition and the history of Notre Dame. I think when he goes and sees what rich traditions they have and the alum base and what a degree from the University of Notre Dame can do for you one day, I think that'll be an eye-opener for him."Our Take: This has been an interesting one to follow. Even before he was offered by Notre Dame, Miller expressed an interest. When the offer came, he was a little hesitant about publicizing it. It seemed like he was a lock to take a visit and then it wasn't so clear. After his official visit to Colorado last month, sources said he was locked in with the Buffaloes, but now he's taking visits again.The good thing for the Irish is they got on him early enough to be in a position to score an official visit in the final weeks. Also, Notre Dame deserves credit for remaining in contact even when Miller's previous recruiter, Mike Sanford, left to take the head coaching job at Western Kentucky. Atkinson admitted he assumed there would be a break in contact, but there wasn't."When I saw (Sanford) go to Western Kentucky, I thought, 'Well, there goes Chris and Notre Dame,'" the coach said. "He said, 'No, Coach, they've been keeping up and communicating.'"And despite the late offer from Texas, we're told the Longhorns got the feeling it's too late for them to become a legit factor.ELKO VS. WAKE: New Notre Dame defensive coordinator Mike Elko hasn't really gone after any of his defensive commitments from his former school, Wake Forest, but he has still found himself in a recruiting battle with the Demon Deacons down the stretch.Notre Dame is hosting Arkansas cornerback Tre Norwood this weekend, one week after he took an official visit to Wake Forest."It was real good," Norwood said of last week's visit. "The coaching staff, the players were great guys. The campus, the school itself is real nice. I enjoyed myself."Norwood said he got a chance to get to know Elko "a little bit" when he was still coaching at Wake Forest, "but not as much as I have now."Elko joined defensive backs coach Todd Lyght for an in-home visit with Norwood on Monday and the topic of Wake Forest did come up."It was all positive, but he's at Notre Dame now and looking to make things happen there," he said.Earlier this week, Norwood told us he's looking for a school with great academics, where he has a great relationship with the coaches and a place that feels like a family.After diving more into his recruitment in recent days, we feel there's a great chance he'll be able to check all of those boxes during his trip to South Bend.Norwood and his family already know about the academics and how a degree from Notre Dame could set him up for life.While he enjoyed with his first meeting with Elko, we're told the family has been extremely impressed with Lyght in recent weeks."He's a down to earth cool guy," one source told us. "He hung out with the family despite all of his fame and fortune and was very easy to talk to."Norwood is well aware of Lyght's rsum as a player and the family was honored to have him in their house, according to the same source. The Arkansas cornerback comes from a Catholic family and we're told seeing the Basilica will be one of the highlights of the weekend.This weekend's visit was described to us as "a dream come true."FIELDS EXCITED FOR LAST VISIT: The last several weeks have been a whirlwind for Evan Fields. He's trimmed his list only to have new schools come into the picture and grab his attention. The new interest never really subsided with an offer coming from Minnesota last week and his latest offer, his 34th, from TCU earlier this week. He had a bunch of in-home visits last week before packing up and flying out to West Coast for an official to UCLA. He enjoyed the that trip and the in-homes resumed again with TCU, Arizona State, Kansas State and Notre Dame all swinging down to see him in the final days. Fields will get a brief reprieve from the process after this weekend's official visit to Notre Dame. On Sunday, he'll be flying directly from South Bend to Orlando to play for Team USA in the inaugural North American Championships. He's set to announce his decision on Jan. 30th, shortly after getting back to Oklahoma. That's what makes this visit to South Bend so key. It'll likely be the last in-person contact he has with any coaches prior to announcing his choice. Notre Dame may not lead going into the visit, but we think the Irish have a tremendous opportunity to make up ground in a matter of days. Academics is going to be a critical factor in his decision and not just the reputation of the school, but how the school assists its players in staying on track. How he fits into the program on and off the field will also be key. If Notre Dame is able to make a good presentation in those areas, the Irish will be in a position to grab one of their top remaining targets. The Sun Devils, Wildcats and Bruins are also firmly in the mix at this point.ARMSTRONG LOOKS TO LOCK IN VISIT: Jafar Armstrong wants to visit Notre Dame."He's trying to," a source close to the 2017 Missouri wide receiver commit told us this week. "He's also trying to work out where he's committed to and be honest and up front with everything there. I know if he does visit, it's going to be next weekend. He's not going to do anything this weekend, he would wait one more week."That jives with what ISD publisher Mike Frank reported earlier this week.The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder from Bishop Miege has received interest from multiple schools in the last month, but Notre Dame is the only one that seems to have established any real traction. We're told Notre Dame was a dream school of sorts for Armstrong going all of the way back to the beginning of the process. It seemed to take Armstrong a bit to process the late offer, but once he did, it became clear he was interested in moving forward and trying to find out whether Notre Dame was indeed the best spot for him.If he does make the trip to South Bend, and at this point we fully expect he will, we'll like the Irish's chances at a flip.HOLMES HOPES TO COMPETE WITH JACKSON: When Notre Dame extended an offer to Atlanta running back Deon Jackson last week, many Irish fans had to be thinking, "I wonder what CJ Holmes thinks of that?"It didn't take long for them to get their answer as Holmes quickly tweeted at Jackson encouraging him to join the crew.https://twitter.com/CjHo1mes/status/820089656515686405Holmes isn't scared of competition, in fact, he embraces it. If you remember back to The Opening this summer, he was actually trying to convince Maryland running back Anthony McFarland Jr to give Notre Dame a closer look and that was literally hours after Holmes went public with his decision.It's not just about wanting to compete though, it's about wanting to win. Holmes understands that good teams need depth and that athletes win games. We're told Holmes wasn't caught off guard by the offer to Jackson as Autry Denson gave him a heads-up beforehand.BAILEY NOT OUT JUST YET: Coming out of his official visit to Tennessee last weekend, there were reports that Terrell Bailey was shutting things down and was locked in with his commitment to the Volunteers.But a source close to the 2017 Louisiana cornerback was surprised to hear those reports."He didn't shut anything down yet," the source said.Is Notre Dame still in play?"Yeah," we were told.Bailey is scheduled to visit Arizona State this weekend and is still on to visit South Bend afterward, according to the source."The 27th, yes sir," the source said.An announcement is expected sometime between his final visit and National Signing Day.DAYO SOLID WITH VANDY: There were some reports out this week that Notre Dame had extended an offer to 2017 Vanderbilt defensive end commit Dayo Odeyingbo. The Texan's high school head coach denied those reports."I don't believe there is an offer," Ranchview High School head coach Terry Smith told ISD this week.He also doesn't believe Odeyingbo is in play for anybody except the Commodores at this point."As far as I know, he's still really solid with Vanderbilt," he said.A separate source on Notre Dame's side of things confirmed the Irish had not extended an offer to Odeyingbo and would not be pursuing him.2018 WR PUSHES VISIT BACK: Micah Jones was planning an overnight stay at Notre Dame this weekend, but the flurry of uncommitted 2017 prospects scheduling officials led to the Irish and the 2018 Illinois wide receiver deciding it'd be best to move it back a couple weeks.Jones is getting close to making a decision, so he's looking to go in-depth on his final round of visits and doesn't want to get lost in the shuffle. He understands the Irish need to concentrate on wrapping up the 2017 class with National Signing Day barely two weeks away, so there certainly are no hard feelings about the postponement.As of now, it looks like Jones will be back for the Irish's Junior Day on Feb. 11th, but the visit could come sooner. Jones has already been to South Bend more than a few times, so his next trip won't be a sightseeing tour. He wants to meet with the people in admissions and people on the academic side of things. Just as importantly, he wants to spend some time around the players to see how he'd fit in, which is why the trip will be an overnight stay.Jones will likely do a few other overnight weekend visits to schools like Iowa and Illinois among others in the coming weeks. Given what Jones is looking for academics, big-time football, small campus size, Midwestern feel and the opportunity to play on national TV it's not hard to understand why the Irish are so heavily in the mix."I think it checks all of the boxes, but so do some other schools," one source told us. "It's going to really come down to his feel for the campus, the players, the direction of the program, how they want to use him."Jones was being recruited by Mike Denbrock, who has since left for Cincinnati, but that shouldn't be a deciding factor. New offensive coordinator Chip Long has already been in touch and he knows new wide receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander, who recruited him when he was at Arizona State, and is comfortable with him.The plan is for Jones to announce a commitment in March or April.IRISH ON TOP OF ADEMILOLAS: While Elko is working feverishly to wrap up the 2017 recruiting class on the defensive side of the ball, he's made sure to find time to reach out to a pair of the Irish's key 2018 commits in defensive linemen Jayson Ademilola and Justin Ademilola.We're told the New Jersey twins were glad to hear from Elko, who visited the school last week, and see it as a sign the Irish truly value them."He reached out to them to try to build a relationship with them," a source told us."It's nice, but it's not just him. They've texted back and forth with Coach Kelly also. It shows they want them, which is always a good thing."Another good thing, according to the source close to the twins, is Elko's scheme."I think it fits exactly what they do," we were told. "From what I've seen so far, I think it would be exciting."I saw the way his defense does a lot of blitzing and has the d-ends coming in from the side and from the middle. The linebacker is always flashing in with an extra guy to attack the quarterback. If you look at their tape, that's what they do."The brothers combined for more than 20 sacks and 40 quarterback hurries as juniors at St. Peter's Prep."That's what they do very well," the source said.After junior seasons that showed the kind of potential the Irish identified during last summer's camp session, the twins couldn't wait to get back to work with New Jersey line specialist Peter Kafaf.They hoped to get back in with him last month, but Kafaf told them to enjoy more of a break around the holidays.Other programs have continued to come at the twins despite their commitments to Notre Dame and being rebuffed by St. Peter's Prep head coach Rich Hansen."That's the way it is," our source said. "You can't stop that."It's not going to stop either. In fact, the twins picked up a trio of offers on their birthday last month. We're told they're obviously keeping their eyes open to all of the coaching changes going on, but they're still focused on their futures in South Bend."When you commit to a school, you don't commit to a school just because of one or two coaches, you look at the overall school, the benefits and the downsides. When you talk about Notre Dame, the benefits outweigh any negatives."PARENTS GIVE PROPOSED RECRUITING RULE CHANGES TWO THUMBS UP: Earlier this week, we were chatting about a pair of proposed rule changes that would establish an early signing period in December and allow student-athletes to begin taking official visits in the spring of their junior years.We reached out to some parents to get their thoughts on whether the changes would be helpful or necessary."Early signing period is good, but there should be some protection to the student-athlete if something drastic should happen," the parent of a Notre Dame commit told us. "I guess 'drastic' would need to be defined in the contract."As for earlier official visits, that's a no-brainer. Too many things going on today where time is limited. The earlier the better."We spoke to a couple parents of recruits who are headed elsewhere, who also thought the rules would be helpful."I think allowing students and parents the option to have an early signing period is good, especially for those who know where they want to go," one mother said. "It cuts down the communication with other coaches who try to convince the student to change their mind...that lovely flip lol. It also allows the student to enjoy their senior year without all the recruiting pressure. "The official visits would be my favorite addition because if students can take the spring and summer months to devote to visiting schools, it allows them to concentrate on finishing their senior year really good especially in football and it also gives the student and parent more time to really get acquainted with the schools they visit. I know for football season with games being on Friday nights our official visits were really cut short, so spring and summer months would be my favorite addition possibility. And I really think this will benefit everyone."A father of a prospect who has already enrolled at another school likes the proposed early signing period as well."I actually like the rule change, especially for those kids that can early enroll," he said. "It takes a lot of pressure off of those families and kids that are ready to take the next step. I do see how it can cause some confusion for kids that sign with a school and the head coach bolts or gets fired from a program. That is not a great situation for any kid or family." Like the others, he described himself as a "huge fan" of advanced official visits."Sometimes it is difficult for a family to travel after a Friday night game," he said. "This would allow some options for schools either on the West or East coast."BALIS IMPACT BEING FELT ALREADY: The Notre Dame program has made major changes in the last few weeks, but the biggest could be the hiring of Matt Balis as its new strength and conditioning coach. The impact can benefit the team not only physically, but mentally. It's only been one week and a week of workouts after break, but it's already clear Balis is much different than Longo. "He had those boys working," stated a source. "I can tell it's going to be different already." Another source felt the workouts not only were going to be different, but harder than what the team had seen previously. "It's way different," stated the source. "High intensity, high energy and actually challenging for the team." A third source said Balis had been "killing them," but added the players saw that as a positive and welcomed being pushed harder than they had been in the past.We will see if it has any impact over the next few years, but by all regards, things are going in a positive direction after the first week.