Recruiting Week In Review

Recruitniks tend to be a pessimistic lot.  Even the most ardent class half empty crowd though must acknowledge that Notre Dame’s start on the Class of 2018 has been nothing short of remarkable.  Following a 4-8 season and a major reshuffling of the coaching staff, the Irish are sitting at fifteen verbal commitments which places them in the top ten of most team recruiting rankings.  Of course, nothing is certain until National Letter of Intent Day, but if Notre Dame can put together a strong season, this preseason success could be a harbinger of things to come. 

Last week, the Irish received their fifteenth verbal commitment and hosted a top offensive lineman in the Class of 2018.  What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?

When Jack Lamb, LB, 6-4, 220, Great Oak High School, Temecula, CA came to the realization that Notre Dame was the place for him, he just had to tell someone.  The only problem with that was that it was 1 a.m. where the person he wanted to tell lived.  Not to be deterred, he called Clark Lea, Notre Dame linebackers coach at home to give him the news. 

“I was super excited because I finally decided in my head, ‘I’m going to go ahead and commit to Notre Dame, this is what I want to do,’ he shared.  “I figured ‘I’ll call his phone, see if he answers and if he does, I’ll let him know I’m going to commit.’”

Lamb continued. 

“He answered at 1 in the morning and sounded super tired.  I told him, ‘Coach, I’m ready to commit to Notre Dame.  I’m ready to get this thing started.’  He went from extremely tired to super excited in the matter of two seconds.  It really validated my decision.  For a coach to see my name on his screen at 1 in the morning, instead of being like, ‘Why’s he calling me?’ and hanging up, he answered the phone and it was good news.  That was really an awesome moment for me.”

Lamb waited until the next evening to announce his decision to the public. 

“This is my dream come true,” he said.  “I’m going to play Division 1 football for one of the best teams in the country.  I still can’t believe it, it hasn’t hit me quite yet.  It took me a while to realize it, but I couldn’t pass up on going to the Notre Dame.  It would have been impossible for me to miss that opportunity.  I felt like if I would have went anywhere else, I would have regretted not going to Notre Dame.”

Lamb is very attracted to the football tradition of Notre Dame. 

“The importance of football everywhere around Notre Dame,” Lamb said of what traditions appeal to him.  “They’re always national championship contenders, they’re always up there and it was just too much to not commit.”

Lamb is also excited about the academic opportunities available to him at Notre Dame, loving the combination of athletics and academics.  He plans to attend the Notre Dame-Georgia game on September 9th, his first Notre Dame game. 

“I know what to expect and hopefully it exceeds those expectations,” he said.  “When I visited the campus the first time, I was extremely impressed with everything there.  Getting to talk with all of the coaches gave me a great first impression and really put them up there on my list and with some thought, it really pushed them over the edge.”

Lamb plans to now go from recruit to recruiter. 

“That’s my job now,” he explained.  “For this offseason, that’s what I need to do for the team, get this team together, be a leader, try to get the people in this class we want in it.”

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While Lamb has made his decision, Sam Taimani, OL, 6-2, 295, East High School, Salt Lake City, UT is still evaluating his choices.  He visited Notre Dame last week as part of his evaluation process. 

“I saw everything,” Taimani explained.  “We got to tour the campus and I talked to one of the players, Myron (Tagovailoa-Amosa), and we got to see them lift.  I also talked to the coaches.  We had an excellent meeting and then I talked to the academic advisor.”

Being able to meet with Tagovailoa-Amosa, a freshman defensive lineman from Hawaii and also of Polynesian descent gave him a chance to ask questions about his adjustment to Notre Dame. 

“It was good just knowing he’s someone who’s far from home and going to Notre Dame and he’s Poly,” said Taimani.  “He said it was pretty fast for him to adjustment.  He said the only thing he really misses is his family.”

Taimani also enjoyed the opportunity to meet with the coaches, especially, Brian Polian, Mike Elston and Chip Long. 

“That was good,” he said.  “We just talked a lot of football and the programs and that’s pretty much it.”

Notre Dame sees Taimani as an offensive lineman, despite earlier reports that they might be considering him for the defensive side of the ball. 

“They see me as an offensive guard or center,” he shared.  “That’s fine with me.”

Next on the four-star lineman’s agenda is setting up his official visits.  He definitely plans to return to South Bend.  In addition he also intends to see Washington and Alabama.  His visit to Notre Dame proved very helpful to the Irish’s chances. 

“I like it a lot,” he said.  “It got way better, just seeing how it is and just talking to the coaches.  I feel like my bond with my recruiting coach, Coach Polian became way better.”

These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.