Recruiting Week In Review
Written by Joe Bradshaw
With over 600 previous Recruiting Week in Reviews, sometimes it becomes a struggle to come up with the opening theme. However, there are some truths in college football that never seem to fade. One of those is that games are won in the trenches. It may seem repetitious, boring, clichéd, but it’s also undeniably true. With an inconsistent and unreliable passing game last season, the Irish still managed to grind out ten wins against one of the most difficult schedules in the nation. They did so by steamrolling teams on offense and playing a tough and opportunistic defense. The fact that they had two offensive linemen taken in the first ten picks was a testament to just how stout their offensive line was. No team can hope to replace the production of a Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey the following year, but the strength of Notre Dame’s offensive line recruiting gives Irish fans hope that the step back will be minimal at worst.
Defensive line recruiting hasn’t been as strong as that of the offensive line but it has seen improvement and that improvement showed last year. Jerry Tillery emerged as the player the coaches thought he could be and numerous others also stepped up. Many believe that the defensive line will be even better in 2018. Last week Irish Sports Daily reported on two prospects, one on the offensive line, one on the defensive line; one in the Class of 2019, one in the Class of 2020 that would help Notre Dame to continue winning those wars in the trenches. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?
Enokk Vimahi. 6-5, 290, Kahuku High School, Kahuku, HI would be the icing on the offensive line recruiting cake. Notre Dame Offensive Line Coach Jeff Quinn has already landed a very impressive haul of linemen in the Class of 2019, but neither he nor the Irish seem to be resting on their laurels. While they can afford to be very choosey in taking a fifth offensive lineman, there’s little doubt that they seriously want Vimahi. And the four-star prospect is listening. He has set up an official visit.
“My official is when they play Michigan,” he shared. “I locked in that one.”
Vimahi recently named his top eight and obviously the Irish made that list. The list also includes USC, UCLA, Washington, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Ole Miss and Virginia. He’s been in contact with a number of the Notre Dame coaches.
“It’s been Coach Quinn, Coach (Brian) Polian, and I’ve been on and off with Coach (Brian) Kelly,” he said.
This will be his inaugural visit to South Bend and Notre Dame and he plans to use the visit to become more familiar with the university and football program.
“Just seeing how the atmosphere is on game day with the student body,” he said. “They have a great O-line tradition and we’ll see whether or not I’m going to be a part of it.”
Like most recruits, he’s impressed by the combination of football and academic tradition.
“You know they have the best of both worlds with them always doing good and academically they are very strong in that too.”
At 6-3, 245. Coziah Izzard, DE, DeMatha Catholic High School, Hyattsville, MD holds a Notre Dame scholarship offer and is in the process of learning more about the Irish. He’s already intrigued by what they have to offer.
“That offer is pretty high on my list,” he said. “I know they have a good D-line unit. They have a really good D-line coach, so that puts them high on my list.”
Izzard’s communication with Notre Dame has been as much encouragement and instruction as recruiting.
“They want me to work on my skills and try to come down to the school and visit,” he explained.
He does plan to trek to South Bend at some point.
“Yeah, sometime this year,” he shared. “I just want to experience everything; what the D-line does, what the coach teaches, what they do and how the team runs.”
Izzard recently took trips to Clemson and Virginia Tech.
“I really enjoyed Clemson a lot and V. Tech,” he reported. “I’m going to try to visit both of those schools again.”
Even though Clemson hasn’t offered, they still have his attention.
“I really enjoyed being down there and talking with the D-line coach,” he said. “I think they might offer sometime down the road.”
He also hopes to visit Michigan State and Georgia. Georgia has already offered but he doesn’t know much about them either.
“From what they produced last year, they were a top program and I’m just looking forward to seeing what they have to offer me.”
Though Izzard doesn’t have a decision timeframe, he does know what his priorities are in making his final decision.
“I want a school that has a very high interest in me, of course,” he explained. “I just want to go to a school that is a top program, a school that has produced a lot of good players and a lot of good D-linemen.”
These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.