6 Thoughts on a Thursday
Last year Notre Dame looked different than they had in previous years. I’m not talking about just getting back to winning. I mean they literally looked different as several players underwent physical transformations under Matt Balis and the new strength and conditioning program.
The Irish aren’t just going to look different this season.They’re going to have a bit of a different feel to them next season and likely the seasons to come. Notre Dame has always been a national program in terms of reach and recruiting. It’s going to be that way more than ever before, though, because they’re moving further away from the Midwest when it comes to the makeup of the roster.
From 2010 to 2016, Brian Kelly and his staff signed 53 players from the Midwestern states out of the 153 total (34.6%) that inked with the Irish. In the last two classes that number has dropped to 8 out of 48 (16.7%), less than half of the percentage of prospects from the Midwest in the previous six cycles.
Honestly, it made sense for things to go this way. There are still good football players from states like Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio every year. There are just far less of them than there are in other areas of the country.
The recruiting base was being depleted and yet Notre Dame still was signing as many as 10 recruits from the Midwest in a single class back in 2015. I can’t imagine them coming close to that number in this class or any class in the near future.
Out of the 125 offers they have sent out to the 2019 class, only 24 are from the Midwest. Counter that with them sending out 23 offers to prospects from the state of Georgia alone. They know they need to have more of a presence in a talent-rich state like Georgia and I think they are doing a great job in attempting to do so with those offers (and one commitment already).
Midwest kids like Julian Love, Houston Griffith, Daelin Hayes, and Tommy Kraemer are always going to be important parts of Notre Dame’s football team. Unfortunately there are just far less of them that have the potential to be great players from the Midwest today than were even ten to fifteen years ago.
Only five of the initial 2019 ISD Fab 50 are from the Midwest. I had four in the final 2018 Fab 50. The majority of the best prospects aren’t from areas close to Notre Dame anymore. They had to adapt or fall behind. The evidence says they have chosen to adapt.
2. It’s not always about Georgia, Florida, California, and Texas in terms of recruiting territory. It’s about expansion all over the country to find good players and the right fit.
One specific area where I’d love to see them continue to attack in recruiting is the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia). They have eight offers out to prospects from there this year. With it being only February, it likely means they are going far surpass the ten they offered from there in the previous cycle.
They ended up signing three out of those ten with cornerback DJ Brown, cornerback Noah Boykin, and defensive tackle Ja’mion Franklin. Right now Notre Dame appears to be in a good position for 4 star safety Litchfield Avajon (Virginia) and are in the mix for #25 in the ISD Fab 50, defensive end Brandon Smith (Virginia).
The DMV produces blue-chip talent every year. Often it’s raided by schools like Penn State and Ohio State. I’ve always felt like Notre Dame needed to be more involved with prospects from that area of the country and with less focus on the Midwest, I think we may start seeing that happen.
3. Speaking of the DMV, Notre Dame was able to pickup a pair of recruits late from the area in 2017 with linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (Virginia) and Kofi Wardlow (Maryland). The jury is out on if either of them will end up being good players for the Irish, but the feedback we have heard so far has been positive.
It’s actually been very positive for all of those recruits the Irish landed late in the process in ‘17. Jafar Armstrong flashed some potential in fall camp last year and there were things shown from both Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Jordan Genmark Heath on the field last season that has people excited about their future. It would be a surprise if the Irish go five for five with those late additions, but even if they were to go three or four for five with that group, it would be outstanding.
Notre Dame had a similar situation where they needed numbers at the end of the class in 2010 when Kelly came over from Cincinnati. The hit rate as far less successful.
Out of the seven they pursued and signed late in that class, only Danny Spond and Austin Collinsworth became starters. Kona Schwenke ended up being a useful rotation player on the defensive line, but it fell off a cliff after him. Tate Nichols, Derek Roback, Luke Massa, and and Bruce Heggie were all a swing and a miss.
I think the final five in ‘17 can turn out a lot better than that group. It’s too early to say that they will, but the potential is there in my opinion. Hopefully it can come close to the late additions that Washington signed when Chris Petersen took in 2014.
He added players late who were either Boise State commits or targets that were not going to end up at Washington before he made the move. Will Dissly was 2 star defensive lineman from Montana that was a 2nd team All-Pac 12 tight end last season. He has one more year of eligibility. Defensive tackle Greg Gaines was the 711th ranked recruit in the nation. He became a quality starter and was also voted 2nd team Pac-12 last year with one more left to go. Safety Jojo McIntosh (896th overall) also made the 2nd team.
Sidney Jones (not in the top 1000) was a 2nd round pick last year and was a 2nd team All-American at cornerback in 2016. Wide receiver Dante Pettis (904th) was a consensus All-American in 2017 and set the NCAA record for punt return touchdowns.
All of those players were added to the class after Petersen took the job.
Petersen is pretty darn good at identifying talent so this is as much me saying Notre Dame should offer more of the same prospects that Washington does as it is being hopeful that the Irish can be that fortunate with their late additions.
Unless someone else can find a better group of underrated players that were added late, Washington’s ‘14 class is the standard. The five for the Irish weren’t as overlooked as that group, but it would be a pleasant surprise if they could come close to being as good as Petersen’s five in ‘14.
4. Graduate transfers have not worked out that well on the field at Notre Dame aside from Cody Riggs. That doesn’t mean that other graduate transfers might not turn out better if the Irish were to add one this offseason. It just means that if anyone is expecting a transfer to come in and provide anything more than depth, they should re-adjust their expectations.
I see some people talking about running backs like Michigan State’s Madre London and Clemson’s CJ Fuller as potential transfer candidates because both are looking for new schools. I understand why Irish fans would be interested in them possibly coming to South Bend. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have another back on the team that could step in if needed.
However, I just don’t see why London or Fuller would have any interest in Notre Dame. If there decisions are primarily about getting in respected graduate program, then it would make sense. But my understanding is that both are looking for more opportunities to run the ball with London being stuck third on the depth chart at MSU and Fuller being the same at Clemson. So why would either consider Notre Dame without a clear path to playing time?
Not that Tony Jones Jr. or Dexter Williams is a guarantee to be the featured back this fall, but the opportunity at running back is not anything like it was at defensive tackle last offseason. There are still going to be four scholarship running backs on the roster and two who played a decent amount last season. Why would either London or Fuller want to go into an unknown situation like that when they can likely a greater opportunity at another school?
If these guys were transferring looking to win more games than at their previous school, I would get it. If I thought it was about grad school, then it would make sense. But it seems like it’s about a clear path to playing time and getting more opportunities to run the ball. Because of that, I’m not sure either will look too closely at Notre Dame even if the Irish pursue them.
5. I know that Notre Dame fans don't have any love for Bob Davie because of what he did as a coach. I know that some others who worked with him have even less affection for him. What has allegedly gone on at New Mexico under his watch has makes it seem incredible that someone like him was able to ascend to be the head coach at Notre Dame in the first place.
The entirety of the situation and everything involved with it makes me extremely angry. For that reason, I’m going to withhold all of my thoughts on him for right now because I just don’t think it’s a productive thing for me to rant away on someone I already didn’t hold a high opinion of.
I will suggest that anyone who wants to should listen to the the recent episode of The Audible with Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman where they spoke with Daniel Libit, a journalist who has been reporting on Davie and New Mexico. From there, everyone can form their own opinion, but it just solidified to me that he should not be the kind of person that is in charge of a college football program.
6. On a more positive note to end this, I wanted to bring up one of my favorite prospects in the 2019 class that the Irish have offered. I thought about including him in my original 6 Favorite Prospects, but he was one of many that I could have put on that list. There are so many prospects that I’m excited about in this class. Mase Funa goes to Mater Dei (California) and I know the Irish failed to land Solomon Tuliaupupu from there, but I honestly like Funa more as a prospect than Solo. They are both physical, but Funa is a different level of physical.
He’s going to be an edge player at the next level and I imagine Notre Dame is projecting him at Drop. This is a player who will be able to set the edge in the run game. He has the kind of potential to completely shut down his side in that aspect.
I like just about everything about him as a player. He has tremendous power and understands how to set up tackles as a pass rusher. Backs won’t be able to handle him one on one and when he arrives to the football, there aren’t many you’ll see that are as violent as he is.
In addition to all of that, he’s solid in coverage and has good ball skills. In terms of a pure football player, he may be my favorite out of everyone in the entire class.
He’s originally from Utah so I don’t think it’s a slam dunk that he is a lock for USC. Even if it seemed like he was, Notre Dame should still work their tail off to try and land him. He is a tone-setter and can develop into a great player at the next level.