Recruiting Week In Review

Written by Joe Bradshaw

While the Class of 2018 is far from finished, the Notre Dame coaching staff is also putting in considerable effort with the Class of 2019.  With so many new faces on the Irish coaching staff, they should be able to develop much deeper relationships with the 2019 recruits than either of the previous two classes with whom they interacted.  As this season has shown, Notre Dame is placing much greater emphasis on developing the kind of talent in the trenches that enable them to physically manhandle their opponents.  Cleary the offensive line is ahead of the defensive line but there is talent on the defense that should begin to level that inequality.  Going forward, there appears to be significant emphasis on recruiting both and the Irish are targeting some of the top players in the nation at those positions.  Last week Irish Sports Daily reported on two Class of 2019 prospects that could greatly bolster Notre Dame’s performance in the trenches.  What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?

Jowon Briggs‍, DT, 6-2, 275, Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH set a number of team goals prior to the beginning of the 2017 season but sadly has not seen them come to fruition.  At 2-5 Walnut Hills is struggling.  Briggs also set private goals and with those he’s having more success.  One of his primary focuses going into the season was to improve his pass rushing and he feels that he’s done that.

“Last year I just used pure strength and not much finesse,” Briggs explained.  “I want to implement the moves I learned over the summer into my game this year.”

Briggs learned multiple moves and has tried to use them in game situations.

“There are multiple names for different moves,” he said.  “You have double side scissors, where you basically swat their hands away using both hands, or you can split their hands, one up and one down, fork lift, flip your hips, flip the swat, club and rip or just long arm them and rush them like that.  I’m also trying to play different d-line positions, like d-end.  I really want to get some of that this season.”

One of the benefits to better technique is increased efficiency.

“I’ll probably use less energy than when I was trying to manhandle somebody,” he shared. 

As one of the top rated defensive line recruits in the 2019 class, Briggs knows that he’s got a target on his back.  Teams are going to scheme to stop him and individual players are going to attempt to prove themselves at his expense.  His coach has advised him to block out all those thoughts and just focus on playing his game.

“I’m not going to do anything outlandish; I’ll just play however the scouting report tells me to.”

Briggs’ primary focus in on his team and turning around its season.  While he’s aware of recruiting, at this point it’s not his primary focus, or really much of a focus at all.  He does acknowledge that schools are in contact with him, though.  Notre Dame’s Defensive Line Coach Mike Elston is his Irish contact.

“Notre Dame is definitely nice,” he said.  “They’re going to be great with this recruiting class coming in.  They also have the aesthetics, that’s another thing I like about Notre Dame.  It’s quiet and I like a quiet school and the academics speak for themselves.”

Briggs has no timeline for a decision though he has been to visit Ohio State and Kentucky this season.  He hopes to make a return trip to South Bend.

“I’m trying to get there for a game as long as time allows and my parents say ‘Sure,’” he said.  “I just want to see how it looks when a college team goes from practicing to turning on the switch in an actual game situation.”

While Briggs seems to, at best, tolerate recruiting, Caedan Wallace, OL, 6-6, 300, The Hun School, Princeton, NJ enjoys it.  He recently received scholarship offers from Ole Miss and Florida State to go along with offers from Penn State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and many others.

“It’s a lot of fun to have schools believe in you enough to offer,” he said.  “It’s kind of amazing sometimes but I just take it in slowly and enjoy the program and see which program could be the best fit for me someday.”

Wallace has been to Penn State before and recently took another trip to State College to see the Nittany Lions.

“It’s a great school with a great environment,” he said.  “It was a really great game.  It was just nice to go out to see the team.”

He also visited in-state Rutgers earlier this season.

“I made it to Rutgers opening game in week one,” he shared.  “That was another really good game.  Rutgers stayed in it in the beginning and put in a really great effort.”

For now Wallace has just one more trip scheduled and that is to Florida State.  That doesn’t mean that’s all he would take, he’s just waiting for more invitations.  He would like to receive one to visit Notre Dame.  He actually received one for a game earlier this season but couldn’t work it into his schedule.

“I’d really just like to learn more about the program,” he said.  “I was there last year for the game day environment, so just taking in the program.  They’re great academically and athletically as well.  They also have a great tradition with football and just school in general.  It’s just a great all around school to get an offer from and have the opportunity to play at.”

The Hun School currently sits at 5-0 after a close win over Blair Academy and Wallace is pleased with his individual play.

“I’m doing pretty good,” he said.  “Run blocking is going pretty well, pass blocking is going pretty well.”

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