Recruiting Week In Review
Written by Joe Bradshaw
One of the changes that has come to Notre Dame recruiting since the installation of Mike Elston as recruiting coordinator has been the earlier identification of players and the expanded contact with sophomores, soon to be juniors. To be sure, the Irish need to continue to expand that practice to catch up with their recruiting rivals, but they’ve definitely made strides in that direction. The evidence for that improvement has come in the form of more 2019 offers than previously. Last week Irish Sports Daily reported on two prospects in the Class of 2019 that have been hearing regularly from Notre Dame. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?
Nolan Rumler, OL, 6-4, 300, Archbishop Hoban High School, Akron, OH has caught the attention of Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, not an easy task. Though Hiestand has not sent out many 2019 offensive line offers, he wasted little time in issuing one to the four-star Ohioan.
“They told my coach to call them,” Rumler remembered. “I called Coach Hiestand and he just offered.”
Notre Dame joins an elite group of schools that have offered Rumler. Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Alabama, Wisconsin, Georgia and many others are vying for his February 2019 signature. Despite the intense competition, the Irish have managed to stand out to him. Rumler told ISD what Hiestand saw on his film that led him to offer.
“He thinks that I’m relentless, that I play to the whistle, am intelligent,” he said. “He thinks I could play well at Notre Dame, great leadership.”
Rumler continued.
“Notre Dame is a great school first off. They have a bunch of great history and tradition. They’re a great football team. They’re about four hours, but they’re close enough so it’s a realistic option for me. I like the coaches a lot too.”
Rumler visited South Bend last fall and is looking to get back. While he saw much on his previous visit, there are still items to be checked off of his list.
“I took a visit at the end of October,” he shared. “I didn’t have a lot of contact with the coaches because it was a gameday and they weren’t really around. It’s a beautiful place. I love the campus. I love the school. Gameday is awesome there. Everyone is really at the game, the stadium holds 80,000 people. The atmosphere is great. I want to go up there summer and spend time with the coaches and meet Coach (Brian) Kelly.”
Rumler says that there are a number of factors that will influence his final decision but that one stands out.
“Probably my relationship with the coaches, if I want to
play for them or not,” he explained. “How far is the school? I want my parents
to be able to see me play. There are a lot of great things about a bunch of
schools. It’s more about how you feel there.”
Irish Sports Daily
Despite being much farther from South Bend than Rumler, Brian Williams has nonetheless caught Notre Dame’s attention, as well as the attention of numerous others. Williams, DB, 6-1, 185, Bishop Dunne High School, Dallas, TX has received many offers from the best schools in college football. And while the May evaluation period uncovers many talented players, Williams was well known already.
“I already had a lot of offers going into this, so there’s not many left to get, but I’m definitely picking up a few more,” he shared. “It’s been a fun process.”
Some of those offers include Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Nebraska, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, USC and UCLA. The Irish dropped by Bishop Dunne to check on Williams and two of his teammates, 2018 defensive tackle Calvin Avery and 2019 Athlete Marquez Beason. All three currently hold Notre Dame scholarship offers. Because of recruiting rules, none of the three could directly communicate with the Irish coaches, but Williams has stayed in touch with Notre Dame defensive backs coach Todd Lyght.
“I’ve talked to the cornerbacks coach a few times,” Williams said. “He’s very impressed by my film. They said I’m one of the top DB’s on the board. It’s always been great talking to him.”
Lyght has been working at getting Williams on campus and the four-star defensive back is considering the trip.
“I might be going on a trip up there this summer,” Williams said, though he added that as of now nothing has been arranged.
Still, Notre Dame does seem to intrigue him.
“It’s not just their athletic success, it’s their academic success as well,” he said. “They really have a great program all around and that really sticks out to me. I just want to see what they have to offer, see what they have to offer academically and athletically.”
He hasn’t made any trips recently and doesn’t have any planned though he has stated that he wishes to see Stanford and UCLA this summer.
These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.