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Notre Dame Football Recruiting

Recruiting Week In Review

February 22, 2017
5,543

Written by Joe Bradshaw

The Notre Dame coaching staff had a very good week.

The Irish received four verbal commitments, all from recruits at positions of need. They currently sit at 10 commitments and it’s less than three weeks after 2017 Signing Day. 

It’s clear this staff works very hard at recruiting, but also works very effectively. Of course, any fan of recruiting knows much can and will change over the next eleven months and that the on the field product will play a significant role in the final composition of the class.

Still, the early results are encouraging. And this staff is hardly through. They continue to identify new prospects, send out new offers and recruit them very hard. 

Irish Sports Daily reported on one such new offer last week, an offer that was well-received. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?

John Dirksen, OL, 6-5, 305, Marion Local High School, Maria Stein, OH was born to be a football player, at least according to his head coach Tim Goodwin. 

“He’s been abnormally large his entire life,” said Goodwin. “He just has the physical gifts that he was born with to play at that kind of level.”

Notre Dame has noticed too and responded by offering the four-star lineman a scholarship. They’re not alone. Michigan State, Kentucky, Iowa State and Northwestern have also thrown their hats into the ring. Of course, Dirksen isn’t just big. He’s also an athlete. 

“He’s got good feet,” said Goodwin. “He’s very strong but he’s also a farm kid, so he’s farm strong which is a different kind of strength. He’s got very strong hands.”

Notre Dame’s scholarship offer caught Dirksen’s attention said Goodwin. 

“Notre Dame is Notre Dame,” he said. “It’s different. He was excited by the Notre Dame offer, there’s no doubt about that. We’re in a Catholic area so that has some pull.”

Dirksen was considering coming to the first Irish Junior Day but didn’t make it. He still plans to get on campus at some point this spring. 

“I definitely think he’s going to come over,” said Goodwin. “Certainly for spring practice.”

Goodwin says that Dirksen is not just a valuable asset on the field but also in the locker room. 

“He’s a tremendous kid,” he shared. “I’ve been telling coaches who come in that I would expect John to go off and be a captain in college. He has that type of personality that people gravitate to. He started as a freshman for us and we went undefeated and won the state championship. Everyone just loved him even though he was just a freshman. He just has that kind of personality.”


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

 
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