Notre Dame Football Recruiting
ND in Scramble Mode at CB After Gervin De-Commitment
May 6, 2017
8,192
Well, this wasn't the way the first Saturday in May was supposed to be for Notre Dame.
This should be a break in the evaluation period for the coaching staff before they get back out on the road on Monday to find the next cornerback to join Kalon Gervin in the 2018 class. Now they have to prepare to replace him after he de-committed in a vague tweet he sent out today.
Why did he decide to end his commitment? No one knows and it really doesn't matter much. It only matters that it puts Notre Dame in scramble mode going forward at their greatest position of need in this cycle. The only good thing about it is that Gervin did this now and not a few months from now.
There has to be a ton of pressure on Todd Lyght right now to fill the void, though. Not only does he lose a commitment at his position in this class, he lost three in 2017 when Elijah Hicks, Paulson Adebo, and Thomas Graham (a silent) all chose to go elsewhere before signing day. The reasons they decided to go elsewhere were different for each of them, but the important part is that none of them ended up at Notre Dame and they were unable to replace any of them down the stretch.
That meant that the 2018 class was set up to be a critically important one at cornerback, which Lyght was very aware of. When Mike Frank asked him about the numbers he needed to land at the position back in February, Lyght told him that Notre Dame would need to sign "at least three". They had a pretty good start with Gervin, but now it's back to the drawing board with no commitments at the position.
This question is the main reason why it is a very big deal that Gervin left the class. Yes, Notre Dame has time to replace him, but they don't exactly have a ton of candidates that they lead for. In fact, they don't have many cornerbacks they have offered who have even visited campus.
People can sugarcoat that however they want, but the reality is that they need to get some key targets on campus in June or July or else they are going to be in serious trouble to find the three quality commitments they need.
Notre Dame appears to be in the thick of it for Houston Griffith, a 4 star corner from Illinois that is now at IMG Academy in Florida. He's a superior prospect to Gervin (#29 in the ISD Fab 50) and has been on campus several times in the last couple of years, but he's also no slam dunk to end up Irish. Ohio State appears to be the main competition for him and some feel he is leaning towards being a Buckeye.
Even if Notre Dame were to land a commitment from Griffith, the list of other cornerbacks who have offers that have been on campus gets concerning after that. There's Griffith, Gervin, and Chase Williams. When you consider that Williams committed to Nebraska recently and Gervin just opened his recruitment back up again...
They did just send out an offer to 3 star DJ Johnson, who said that he plans to be on campus for Irish Invasion next month and that the Irish are now at the top for him. I watched his film and thought his future might be at safety.
If he's the third corner in the class, then that is definitely not a bad thing. But if he's the top guy, then that isn't the ideal situation given that he may end up moving to another position.
4 star defensive back commit Derrik Allen can also play some corner, but he already looks like a college safety in terms of his size. Notre Dame doesn't want to be in a position where he has to play corner if they don't land the enough bodies in the class.
I'm sure new names will emerge. Some have already visited campus and could earn an offer eventually like a Erick Hallett (Cypress, Texas). Some like 4 star athlete Jaquayln Crawford (Rockdale, Texas) may finally get to campus after putting Notre Dame in his top group last month. The Irish may jump in the pool for a prospect like Jaycee Horn (Alpharetta, Georgia) and take a shot at pulling him away from the south.
We'll just have to wait and see how the evaluation period and summer visits play out.
This is a deep class with a ton of high end players that can play corner, but that doesn't mean much unless Notre Dame lands some of that talent. They aren't in a great spot to do so right now and they just lost the only one they had on board.
Todd Lyght may have a good group to coach on campus currently, but they won't be there forever. This Gervin de-commitment put him on notice that he better get 2018 cornerback recruiting rolling in a hurry or else things could get desperate as the process progresses.
This should be a break in the evaluation period for the coaching staff before they get back out on the road on Monday to find the next cornerback to join Kalon Gervin in the 2018 class. Now they have to prepare to replace him after he de-committed in a vague tweet he sent out today.
Why did he decide to end his commitment? No one knows and it really doesn't matter much. It only matters that it puts Notre Dame in scramble mode going forward at their greatest position of need in this cycle. The only good thing about it is that Gervin did this now and not a few months from now.
There has to be a ton of pressure on Todd Lyght right now to fill the void, though. Not only does he lose a commitment at his position in this class, he lost three in 2017 when Elijah Hicks, Paulson Adebo, and Thomas Graham (a silent) all chose to go elsewhere before signing day. The reasons they decided to go elsewhere were different for each of them, but the important part is that none of them ended up at Notre Dame and they were unable to replace any of them down the stretch.
That meant that the 2018 class was set up to be a critically important one at cornerback, which Lyght was very aware of. When Mike Frank asked him about the numbers he needed to land at the position back in February, Lyght told him that Notre Dame would need to sign "at least three". They had a pretty good start with Gervin, but now it's back to the drawing board with no commitments at the position.
What (or who) now at cornerback in 2018?
This question is the main reason why it is a very big deal that Gervin left the class. Yes, Notre Dame has time to replace him, but they don't exactly have a ton of candidates that they lead for. In fact, they don't have many cornerbacks they have offered who have even visited campus.
People can sugarcoat that however they want, but the reality is that they need to get some key targets on campus in June or July or else they are going to be in serious trouble to find the three quality commitments they need.
Notre Dame appears to be in the thick of it for Houston Griffith, a 4 star corner from Illinois that is now at IMG Academy in Florida. He's a superior prospect to Gervin (#29 in the ISD Fab 50) and has been on campus several times in the last couple of years, but he's also no slam dunk to end up Irish. Ohio State appears to be the main competition for him and some feel he is leaning towards being a Buckeye.
Even if Notre Dame were to land a commitment from Griffith, the list of other cornerbacks who have offers that have been on campus gets concerning after that. There's Griffith, Gervin, and Chase Williams. When you consider that Williams committed to Nebraska recently and Gervin just opened his recruitment back up again...
They did just send out an offer to 3 star DJ Johnson, who said that he plans to be on campus for Irish Invasion next month and that the Irish are now at the top for him. I watched his film and thought his future might be at safety.
If he's the third corner in the class, then that is definitely not a bad thing. But if he's the top guy, then that isn't the ideal situation given that he may end up moving to another position.
4 star defensive back commit Derrik Allen can also play some corner, but he already looks like a college safety in terms of his size. Notre Dame doesn't want to be in a position where he has to play corner if they don't land the enough bodies in the class.
I'm sure new names will emerge. Some have already visited campus and could earn an offer eventually like a Erick Hallett (Cypress, Texas). Some like 4 star athlete Jaquayln Crawford (Rockdale, Texas) may finally get to campus after putting Notre Dame in his top group last month. The Irish may jump in the pool for a prospect like Jaycee Horn (Alpharetta, Georgia) and take a shot at pulling him away from the south.
We'll just have to wait and see how the evaluation period and summer visits play out.
This is a deep class with a ton of high end players that can play corner, but that doesn't mean much unless Notre Dame lands some of that talent. They aren't in a great spot to do so right now and they just lost the only one they had on board.
Todd Lyght may have a good group to coach on campus currently, but they won't be there forever. This Gervin de-commitment put him on notice that he better get 2018 cornerback recruiting rolling in a hurry or else things could get desperate as the process progresses.
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