Recruiting Week In Review

Written by Joe Bradshaw

Notre Dame’s 4-0 season record has featured ups and downs but one constant throughout the early season has been outstanding offensive line play. The Irish returned the entire group of starters from 2019 and considering that they were all highly rated recruits, it shouldn’t come as any surprise. In fact, Notre Dame possesses a very good reputation for producing NFL caliber offensive linemen, a point that is not lost on recruits.

Last week, Irish Sports Daily reported on a blue chip offensive line recruit whose familiarity with the Irish extends beyond their reputation for putting offensive linemen in “The League.” What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?

Jake Taylor‍, OL, 6-5, 275, Bishop Gorman High School, Las Vegas, NV recently received a scholarship offer from Notre Dame. Though it really didn’t come as a surprise, he was nevertheless excited about it.

“My offensive line coach at Gorman got a long phone call with the coach there,” the four-star prospect recalled. “He was like ‘Get ready for some great news.’ Moments later, he said ‘give this guy a call.’”

“This guy” turned out to be Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn.

“After a great phone call with Coach, they told me I was offered,” Taylor shared. “It was actually more of a personal phone call than strictly football. My mom and dad were right next to me and I had it on speakerphone. He wants to have that bond rather than having the parents hear about the offer second hand.”

For Taylor, Quinn including his parents on the scholarship call was a unique experience.

“It was interesting because that’s the first time I ever had that happen,” he explained. “It shows they truly do care about the family and it’s just a great overall program.”

Notre Dame has had success recruiting Bishop Gorman in recent years. Notre Dame alumnus, first round draft pick and All-Pro offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley came out of Bishop Gorman as did former Irish safety Nicco Fertitta, currently a coach at Bishop Gorman. Not only has Taylor taken note of Notre Dame’s recruiting connection with his school but also of the success that the Irish have had with sending offensive linemen to the NFL.

“They’re the number one offensive line college in the nation and they care about their faith,” he said. “Coach likes to say there are five “F’s”; family, faith, football, fishing and fun.”

Taylor is looking forward to visiting South Bend sometime in the future. COVID-19 restrictions will keep him away until at least 2021. While he doesn’t have a timeline for making a decision, he does know that he wants to hit the road and see the schools that have offered him. In addition to Notre Dame, he holds scholarship offers from Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA, USC and numerous others. As of now, it appears as if the Sooners are the team to beat.

“It’s the bond I have with their coaches right now,” he said. “I talk to Lincoln Riley, DeMarco Murray, Coach Bill (Bedenbaugh) every single day.”

Though Notre Dame just offered, they have very high interest in Taylor. They held a Zoom call with him recently which involved numerous members of the coaching staff, a call that Taylor called “very impressive.”

This summary represents just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information each week on Irish Sports Daily.