ND Recruiting: Work Smarter, Not Harder

There has been much debate on the recruiting process around Notre Dame over the years, and while it’s not a perfect process for any program, it starts with working smarter. Especially in South Bend.
 

Why isn’t Notre Dame the first to offer?

It’s a question asked by many fans, and it’s just not something Notre Dame is in a position to do most of the time.
 
Let’s look at the first scenario and let’s use 2018 five-star defensive end Xavier Thomas as an example.
 
Every program in the country knows he is an elite player from the start, but for Notre Dame, they need to verify grades and find out if the player can succeed in South Bend. Once they are able to find out his academic standing, then offer as soon as possible. However, that process can take a while.
 
If a kid has average to below average grades through four semesters (end of sophomore year), but they are improving, you can't project he will continue to improve. If he doesn’t, Notre Dame then ends up offering a prospect that fails to be an academic fit.
 
Notre Dame and many other programs are put into a position where they can do one of two things. The first is offering to get into the game, and that is the trend in college football. The second is offering guys when the school is serious about the prospect, so it makes the offer more prestigious.
 
Now, if you offer 20 kids that are poor academics fits, it doesn’t make Notre Dame’s recruiting pitch efficient. Also, how can Notre Dame sell academic prestige when they are offering kids with 2.0 GPAs? I believe it's a huge waste of time and resources at that point.
 

Solution?

So what’s the fix to finding a middle ground in making sure Notre Dame offers the right profile while getting talented kids?
 
I believe Notre Dame can evaluate prospects academically before athletically. They can find guys that can get into school and succeed at Notre Dame before any athletic evaluation is completed. That eliminates recruiting guys that aren’t academic fits, so the staff isn’t wasting their time on recruiting kids with bad grades.
 
The staff can evaluate the top talent in the country by recruiting services in a few days and know who to go after athletically, but that doesn’t matter in Notre Dame’s case until you know whether or not they can make it at Notre Dame.
 
If you find the kids that can make it at Notre Dame first, then the staff is then able to hone in the group of kids that embrace Notre Dame and, most importantly, prospects that are more likely come to Notre Dame.
 

Back to the Offer Process

So now we get back to finding the right time to offer a prospect. I firmly believe offering a kid as a sophomore year is no different than offering a kid through the fall of their junior season. We are talking about 15-16-year old kids. Some kids are going to improve, while some are going to take steps backward during their junior and senior seasons.
 
There are a select group of kids like Xavier Thomas, where their talent is undeniable. Right now, Notre Dame should be seriously evaluating the 2019 class and offering no-brainer kids. But at the same time, it goes back to only have a certain amount of resources.
 
You want the coaches to build relationships and to speak with them over the phone. If you’re offering every top-ranked prospect and kids that have no shot at coming to Notre Dame, then you're wasting everyone’s time.
 
A quick and almost too obvious formula is identifying sophomore prospects holding early mid-level ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, and SEC programs, then determine the players that can play at Notre Dame and offer the prospects who have grades before Alabama, Clemson, and the Ohio State’s of the world offer.
 
While Notre Dame does a lot well, the ability to obtain transcripts and identifying kids that will succeed in the program earlier is what can make life easier on the staff. Requesting transcripts before visiting schools and getting transcripts from rising players only speeds up the process. Most high school coaches want their players to get recruited, so they are going to make every effort to have the proper paperwork ready to be sent and emailed to Notre Dame.

It may sound like a simple start, but it's one that can maximize a coaches time by saving them from recruiting and visiting prospects that aren't coming to Notre Dame in the first place.

Note: Using Xavier Thomas as an example is simply using the top player in the country and not any indication on his academic profile or fit at Notre Dame.