Notre Dame has so far put together a very good and well balanced recruiting class. Following the recent commitment of 4-star wide receiver Kevin Austin, Notre Dame sits pretty at number seven in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Notre Dame has a very balanced class with their star quarterback already committed in Phil Jurkovec, weapons on offense at running back, receiver, and tight end, as well as a pair of underrated offensive linemen that have been to coach Harry Heistand’s liking. They haven’t been slouches on defense either as they currently have five top 300 players committed on the defensive side of the ball, including an elite linebacker haul.
Despite the success that the staff has been having on the recruiting trail, if there is an Achilles heel to this class, it would have to be the defensive backfield. Currently, there is only one defensive back commit to the class, which happens to be a good one. Safety Derrik Allen happens to be the top recruit in the class and is one of the truly elite players nationally. Aside from him, Notre Dame hasn’t had much luck with the position group. This was especially true following the decommitment of 4-star cornerback Kalon Gervin this past May.
At the moment, it would seem that the lack of commitments and activity in defensive backfield may be more intentional by the current Irish staff. The board is currently full of prospects, but the staff has not been eager to press any for a commitment or make anyone a priority in recruiting. Over the summer, we have seen the staff make guys like George Takacs, Shayne Simon, Jack Lamb, Kevin Austin, Ja’Mion Franklin, and even Dallas Gant priorities in recruiting. For the most part, with the exception of Gant, the staff has been able to lock in on their priorities for this class and get their commitment.
The current board of defensive backs prospects with offers is full, but it seems as though the staff is reluctant to press any of them at this point in time. Beginning with the safeties, one of the higher profile recruitments that the staff has had is with 3-star Virginia Tech commit Nasir Peoples. The Irish have openly flirted with Peoples and he has flirted back. Peoples visited campus for the Spring Game back in April despite receiving an invitation from Tech that same weekend for a recruiting event. It is believed that if Notre Dame were to pull all the stops, they would be able to flip Peoples into the class, and thus wrapping up the safety combination for 2018. Notre Dame has been in great standing with other talented safety prospects which include 4-star Julius Irvin, as well as 3-star prospects D’Angelo McKenzie, Chris Mitchell, and Paul Moala (the last of whom is from nearby Mishawaka, Indiana and reportedly ran a 4.4 40 yard dash at Irish Invasion). The staff has been slow to press any of these prospects as they have been building relationships. There are those who believe that McKenzie, Mitchell, or Moala would commit if asked to.
With Notre Dame’s ability to wrap up recruitment at safety, but deciding not to, it gives us an insight of what the staff is currently thinking in terms of their recruiting policy. They are slow playing recruitment in that department for a couple of possible reasons. First, they may be looking for more time and tape for the prospects’ senior season to better evaluate their targets and decide upon who to make a priority. With the finite amount of scholarships available, and the number of bodies already at safety on the team, the staff may want to take their time and identify the player who would truly be able to make a difference to the team and not just be another body in practice.
The second reason they may be slow playing the secondary recruitment may be to better assess the class as a whole. As previously mentioned, the available scholarships are at a minimum as Notre Dame was expected to recruit a smaller class this year of 17-20 prospects. The class is already at 16 with other targets having been made a priority. The staff is trying to lock in a second tight end in Tommy Tremble, a pair of defensive ends in Jayson Oweh and Thomas Booker, as well as a third offensive lineman in Nicholas Petit-Frere, Jamaree Salyer, or Sam Taimani. This doesn’t even include another game-breaker at wide receiver who could take the top off of the defense. If the staff get their priority players in these other position groups, it would bring the commit total to over 20. This would be another reason why the staff is taking their time in recruiting secondary. They would want to make sure that any recruit they bring on will be a difference maker on the field and they would not want to give a scholarship to a 3-star project when they could instead give it to a 4 or 5-star difference maker elsewhere.
The third and last reason the staff may be slow-playing the recruitment in the secondary may be just for the sake of focusing on their own season. There has been a lot of turnaround since 2016 and a breath of fresh air in the program. There is an aura positivity around this group and cautious optimism heading into the season. Winning some games early will put the stinker of a season they had last year in the rear-view mirror and put them back in serious contention with some of their targets higher up the board. The staff may be wondering on why settle on safety when they could continue to build the relationship with Julius Irvin who is warming up to the program and would clearly be the best safety on their board.
This line of thinking is especially true when looking at their cornerback board. Despite not landing a cornerback in last year’s class, the staff has been shooting for the top prospects in this class. The staff has consistently been recruiting 5-star Texas prospect Anthony Cook whom Todd Lyght has built a strong relationship with. Notre Dame had also been in play for Houston Griffith for a long time, who had visited campus a handful of times, but has recently been trending with Florida State, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Penn State. Kyler Gordon from Washington is also another elite prospect that Notre Dame has targeted and made a priority recently. With all of these prospects, if Notre Dame wins early and big (looking at Georgia here), that would put the Irish back in the mix.
Notre Dame reaching up the boards would also explain the rumors that they have backed off of 4-star Indiana prospect Donald Johnson as well as 3-star Telly Plummer who committed to Louisville recently. With the cache that comes with being coached by Todd Lyght, a two-time consensus All-American and Super Bowl champion, Notre Dame must feel good about landing one of their top prospects. Once that is accomplished, they would feel like they’re in a good place with prospects lower on their board like Johnson, Donte Burton, or Tariq Bracy.
As fans, it’s difficult watching Notre Dame recruiting the secondary positions at the moment as we want them to fill those positions as quickly as possible with elite talent, but in order to do so, the staff needs to take their time in order to properly evaluate the prospects that will be able to contribute as well as put themselves in a better position to compete for the players on the top of their board. With the way the staff has recruited so far, coming off of a 4-8 season, they have been doing a phenomenal job with recruiting and have built a strong class that has a good chance of finishing in the top 10. As of now, it is still too early to hit the panic button on the secondary recruiting as the staff seems to have a plan and are sticking with it.