Recruiting Week In Review
Written by Joe Bradshaw
Beginning in the early 2000’s, Notre Dame’s offensive line recruiting began a nearly decade-long slump. That just seemed so un-Notre Dame. The Irish always seemingly had top offensive lines and the loss of that tradition was very difficult for long time die-hard Notre Dame fans to accept. Over the last several years, though, that tradition has been reborn. The Irish have put a number of first round draft pick offensive linemen into the NFL and a couple of them, Zach Martin and Quenton Nelson possess the potential to be considered among the best ever at their positions.
It’s very clear that Head Coach Brian Kelly and Offensive Line Coach Jeff Quinn have no intention of permitting Notre Dame’s offensive line traditions to falter again. Last week Irish Sports Daily reported on two offensive line prospects, one in the Class of 2021 and one in the Class of 2022 that have genuine interest in donning the Blue and Gold. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?
If college football official visits are allowed to resume in June as is currently planned, Notre Dame is set up to receive official visits from three offensive linemen, two of whom, Blake Fisher and Pat Coogan have already verbally committed. Caleb Johnson is also on the June visit list. Fans can now add another big name, or more precisely, big young man, to the list. ISD has confirmed that Matthew Wykoff, OL, 6-6, 305, Magnolia High School, Magnolia, TX has also locked in a June official recruiting visit to Notre Dame.
In March, Wykoff released a list of seven schools to make his final cut. Since Notre Dame had not offered him at that time, they did not make the cut. However, the Irish offer apparently increased his final list from seven to eight. The other seven schools are Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Auburn, Penn State, Arizona State and USC.
“I did want to get to out-of-state schools to see them more because I’ve had a chance to assess the Texas schools more,” Wykoff continues. “Getting the chance to see the stuff I don’t get to see every day and spending some time with those guys.
“Each school has their own draws. I do want to meet the coaches and learn more about the academics. My mom always asks questions about that because that’s what we’re going there for. Of course the facilities and all of that, just looking into the schools and seeing what my impact would be there.”
Wykoff plans to sandwich his Notre Dame official visit of June 12 with a June 5 visit to Penn State and a June 19 visit to USC. He still hopes to make a final decision before the beginning of his senior season but know that plan may have to change.
“I definitely love Notre Dame,” he says. “It has an elite football program, but elite schooling as well. They have a history of winning when it comes to football, but there are so many alumni and they just produce great people.
“Their Business School is amazing, their Law School if you get into that is just a big draw. There are a lot of successful people who went to Notre Dame on the field and off.”
Billy Schrauth, OL, 6-5, 275, St. Mary’s Springs Academy, Fond du Lac, WI is at a much earlier stage of recruiting than Wykoff but he still put together a very good week recently when he received scholarship offers from Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame all in the same week. He learned of the Irish offer from Brian Kelly himself.
“Me and my dad talked to him,” he said. “It was pretty cool.”
Schrauth said the Notre Dame offer “means a lot.”
“I went to Catholic school my whole life and now I’m in a Catholic high school, so my faith is something that is obviously important to me,” he shared. “Notre Dame, yeah it doesn’t get better than that.”
Schrauth plays both ways in high school and some recruiting services are even listing him as a defensive tackle but the four-star recruit sees his future on the offensive line. Kelly made it clear that he was very impressed by what he saw on film.
“He said he really likes the way I play,” Schrauth said. “He sees a lot of enthusiasm and that’s what I want to be there because I like football. He likes my playing style.”
While Kelly was impressed by Schrauth, the Wisconsin star was also impressed by Kelly.
“I thought he was a great guy,” he said. “Notre Dame is kind of a worldwide university and what they do works.”
Schrauth has already been in South Bend for a Notre Dame game. He was there last season when the Irish throttled Boston College 40-7.
“I enjoyed it down there,” he recalled. “It was nice down there to watch them play.”
When the face to face recruiting ban is lifted, Schrauth wants to return to South Bend.
“Obviously, once all this is over, I want to get down there again,” he said. “I’m just excited to build a relationship with Coach Quinn and those guys. I’m even talking to the defensive guys too.”
While he’s waiting to return, he’s set up a weekly schedule to call the Irish staff once a week. And while he’s in no rush to make a decision, Schrauth knows that his decision will be strongly influence by academics.
“I want to take football as far as I can, but I have to have something to back that up with.”
These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.