The Official Notre Dame Football Thread

[Maize]

This recruiting class for ND looks really strong. Should be a Top 10 class and seems like Kelly and his staff are really cleaning up.

 

[FirstTimer]

Ohio DE Chase Hounshell switched his commit from Florida to ND.

Another pick up for Kelly and the Irish.

If Kelly can keep recruiting Florida and Ohio like this I really like what the future holds for Notre Dame.

 

[FirstTimer]

Any reports on how Tuitt's visit to GaTech went?

 

[Irish]

Tuitt is 100% Irish. No chance he leaves.

All the EEs got to South Bend yesterday and are signed and ready. Brindza, Carrico, Golson, Lynch, and Ishaq.

Ishaq and Tuitt both got 5 stars from Rivals today. Councell jumped to a 4 star.

With 23 commits, everyone suggests we have about 1 or 2 scholarships left. Huggins looks less likely everyday, Carlisle went USC a couple days ago, and Shuler went Rutgers a while ago.

I think we have to get a RB in this class and a lot of our targets seem to be going elsewhere. So I think to be looking for some new names to be popping up.

IE thinks it will be some Michigan commit OLineman that is wavering with Rich Rod gone but I think with Hounshell committing we dont necessarily need more. Plus a lot of our 3 star DLinemen can play OL since we are stacked on D.

 

[FirstTimer]

IE thinks it will be some Michigan commit OLineman that is wavering with Rich Rod gone but I think with Hounshell committing we dont necessarily need more. .

We recruited Hounshell as a DE not a OT like Florida did.

 

[Irish]

Yeah I just read they want him to gain 15 pounds to bulk up to be a DE. Sounds like a redshirt.

We have Hanratty, Hegarty, Martin at OL, and maybe Springmann, Carrico, and Hounshell. I think it atleast one of those guys will jump simply because of everyone in front of them. Lynch, Ishaq, Tuitt, Councell, and Rabasa. Those guys will either hold down the DE or rush LB.

I think with that final scholarship/s should be used on a skill guy, mostly a RB.

 

[padman59]

Gerogia Tech's Rivals site is reporting that Tuitt has switched from ND.

 

[FirstTimer]

FUCK

 

[FirstTimer]

That's shocking. Tuitt was one of the guys that was really pushing guys liek Lynch and Williams to come to South Bend.

What the hell?

 

[FirstTimer]

It's official.

Tuitt to GTech.

 

[Irish]

WHAT!?!?!?!?

 

[FirstTimer]

I guess from what I'm hearing now from South Bend is that Kelly and Co saw the writing on the wall with Tuitt in the last few weeks regardless of what was being said publicly and had really turned hard towards Hounshell
Diaco's visit basically revolved around them recruiting Chase as a DE, not an OT and said they would bulk him up and he'd be their all around run stopper etc

Now they have focused a lot of attention on some Niklas kid from out in California as well.

Tuitt is a HUGE loss, no doubt about it but this Dline class is deep for us and we still have Moore, Johnson, and Kona coming back..

 

[Irish]

My heart hurts.

 

[padman59]

Given the recent years, you can't be too surprised that one of the best defensive line recruits in the country decommitted from ND this late in the game. Such a shame too.

 

[FirstTimer]

Good article on Lynch from ESPN:

Aaron Lynch's first day of classes Tuesday at Notre Dame were likely spent daydreaming about the weeks leading up to his last-minute arrival in South Bend.


Aaron Lynch officially became a Notre Dame student when classes began on Tuesday.The 17-year-old defensive end, heavily pursued by most major football programs over the past two years, settled on the Irish Saturday after a brief affair with Florida State. The Cape Coral, Fla., native visited over the weekend and the trip reaffirmed those initial feelings when Lynch first committed to ND last July.

"I guess what it came down to was I needed to go where my heart was," he said earlier this week, after remaining silent since the U.S. Army All-American Game a couple of weeks ago.

Looking back on the madness that saturates college recruiting, like most teenagers, the 6-foot-4, 270-pounder's heart and head weren't always in sync, he said. Perhaps the only constant was a steady barrage of outside opinions pounding his inner ear.

"Man, it's been crazy," said Lynch, one of the crown jewels of coach Brian Kelly's second recruiting effort at Notre Dame. "It's been hectic. It put so much stress on me. It was real stressful."

Eventually, the spotlight he thoroughly embraced began to burn.

"At first I was like, 'This is awesome,'" Lynch said. "I couldn't believe what was going on, really. As soon as I started getting into it I was like, 'Man, this is killing me.'"

The Island Coast High School star, who enrolled at ND this semester in order to take part in spring practices, decommitted in November and chose the in-state Seminoles. He explained that, at the time, he felt Notre Dame's 3-4 defensive alignment didn't suit him.

"At first, I didn't really catch on to what [Notre Dame's] defense was all about," Lynch said. "I just knew it was a 3-4 defense. That's why I committed to Florida State. I committed to Florida State because I thought it was the next best choice. I also wanted to stay close to home. But my mom was like, 'We're all going to move, wherever you go. Wherever you go, we'll be there.' So I had to take some time and think it over."

According to Lynch, Notre Dame, especially assistant coach Tony Alford, never thought about letting the pass-rushing force go without a fight.

"They didn't leave me alone and I'm glad they didn't," he said. "They kept calling me, calling me, calling me. I was like, 'They really want me.' I really can trust these Notre Dame coaches. Like coach [Tony] Alford, you wouldn't believe how close we were. He was like a father."

And Kelly lived up to Lynch's expectations of the ideal head coach.

"The guy, he's unbelievable," Lynch exclaimed. "He's an unbelievable head coach. He just gives off a different vibe. Some head coaches, I'm not saying any names, but some can be stuck up and not in your best interest. Coach Kelly is a player's coach; he's here for the players' best interest.

"He's here to make sure these kids are going to be successful in life. Some coaches, they just want you to go to their school and play for them and be a number. He wants us to come here, graduate and win a BCS [title]. That's why he's the real deal. I think he's the real deal."

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Kelly's overwhelming success on the recruiting trail, despite a substantial hit Tuesday when four-star defensive end Stephon Tuitt announced he had switched his verbal commitment to Georgia Tech, has Lynch giddy about the upcoming season.

Snagging an abundance of coveted defensive recruits, Kelly and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco have a deep well of soon-to-be ready rookies from which to draw. The Irish (8-5), which started 1-3 this past fall, made significant strides on that side of the ball to close the 2010 campaign with four straight victories.

Irish fans are glowing about the latest haul. Lynch said it's a "BCS winning" type of group.

"You've got guys like Ishaq [Williams] -- he's going to be playing outside linebacker," Lynch said of the prized recruit out of Brooklyn, N.Y. "That's going to be a big, fast, athletic outside linebacker. We've got Kyle Brindza, a kicker, and I watched him kick from the [30-yard line] and kick it out of the end zone. [Defensive end] Ben Councell is a crazy athlete. It's going to be a turning point. That's what it is."

 

[padman59]

Tuitt is Irish again.

Fuck this drama. I'm taking a break until signing day.

 

[FirstTimer]

*Cautious :fap: *

 

[Irish]

Back in business.

 

[Irish]

Ruffer gets his scholarship next year. Congrats to him!

 

[Irish]

Also Kelly hinted at Riddick moving back to RB. Not too sure about that.