Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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152 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY ANDREW IVINS W hen Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly was piecing together his coaching staff in February 2015, he knew that he was going to be fighting somewhat of an uphill battle when it came to recruiting. Kelly had lost his ace salesman when re- cruiting coordinator and running backs coach Tony Alford left to take a position at Ohio State, and he was also going to have to replace a trio of assistants that had plenty of recruiting experience in quarterbacks coach Matt LaF- leur, defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks and linebackers coach Bob Elliott. But sometimes change is a good thing, and Notre Dame's recruiting efforts for the class of 2016 suggest just that. Despite a late start to the recruiting cycle after welcoming four new assistant coaches to the staff, the Irish managed to sign a 23-man class that not only filled needs at key posi- tions, like along the offensive line, but also added playmakers to the roster on both sides of the ball. "It's been a journey for Notre Dame and our recruiting efforts," Kelly said on National Signing Day. "A year ago we made some sub- stantial changes within our recruiting office. It started with me handing the reins over to Mike Elston on my staff as the recruiting coordina- tor and asking him to reshape the look of our recruiting efforts. "In a very short period of time, he's done a very admirable job, but more importantly a very creative job, one that has addressed the needs that we have within recruiting, but has also embraced what recruiting looks like right now and moving forward." Elston elected to host more prospects on of- ficial visits during the season than ever before in the Kelly era at Notre Dame. He also placed a strong emphasis on targeting guys that he felt were fits for the program and even made an effort to recruit prospects that were com- mitted to other schools while at the same time telling kids not to give a pledge to Notre Dame if they still wanted to look at other schools. It was a strategy that worked. The Irish signed their first Rivals.com five- star prospect in two years when Ann Arbor (Mich.) Skyline linebacker Daelin Hayes flipped from USC in December. They also added arguably the nation's top offensive line class with the trio of Cincinnati Elder four- star tackle Tommy Kraemer, Cleveland St. Ignatius four-star tackle Liam Eichenberg and Orlando (Fla.) Bishop Moore four-star guard Parker Boudreaux, and were able to sign a versatile group in the secondary that should challenge for playing time right away in South Bend. It's a haul that has Kelly optimistic about the Irish's future over the course of the next few seasons even though the group wasn't ranked by Rivals, ESPN, Scout or 247Sports as a top-10 class. "I think each and every year, you hope that this group is the best group you've ever re- cruited. I'm hoping for that again," Kelly said. "I think we all know that there are some play- ers in here that could help immediately, some that we'll develop and some that are in here for specific needs. "I think it touches upon everything that you would need in your program six years into it. It's not an immediate fix, it's not just for the future. It covers all the areas that you would expect it to cover, and that's why it doesn't kind of have that flashiness." Five-star prospect Daelin Hayes, Rivals' No. 31 overall player in the 2016 class, was the highest-ranked Irish signee from this past year. PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS CLASS OF 2016 RECRUITING STORYLINES Irish overcome late start to fill needs and add playmakers at key positions FINAL 2016 CLASS RANKINGS Rivals — 12 247Sports — 15 Scout — 13 ESPN — 16