Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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on bolstering the defensive front seven. With linemen Aaron Lynch, Stephon Tuitt, Chase Hounshell and Tony Springmann, and linebackers Troy Niklas, Ishaq Williams, Anthony Rabasa, Ben Councell and Jarrett Grace, that's exactly what the Fight- ing Irish achieved. This recruiting cycle was about In 2011, Kelly and his staff focused replacing the vacancies in the de- fensive secondary after the gradua- tion of starting cornerbacks Robert Blanton and Gary Gray, and captain Harrison Smith (safety), as well as adding depth at wide receiver with record-setter Michael Floyd having exhausted his eligibility. "We have a class that represents the needs that we have in our foot- ball program," Kelly said. "Last year our need base relative to our class was centered around the power posi- tion. I thought we did a great job of addressing that. This year was about the skill level, especially at the defen- sive backfield and the wide receiver position." With Notre Dame's unique selling FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE earlier when five-star quarterback Gunner Kiel flipped on LSU at the last minute before enrolling early at Notre Dame. Kiel's road to South Bend, other than Carlisle's, winded the most. Originally committed to Indiana, the native of Columbus, Ind., which is just 36 miles from Bloomington, decommitted and gave his verbal pledge to LSU after Christmas. Kiel was a no-show in Baton Rouge and enrolled for the spring semester at Notre Dame. "We never really felt like we were The best news came a few weeks Hanahan, S.C., wide receiver Chris Brown was described by Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly as perhaps the top steal in the 2012 Irish recruit- ing class. points — including a national sched- ule, its television deal with NBC and high graduation rate for football players — come hurdles in attract- ing top prospects. Kelly explained the importance of thoroughly laying out what it requires to succeed in a competitive academic and athletic environment. "It starts with making sure we talk about our distinctions and not shy away from them," Kelly said. "We talk about a faith-based education. You've got to live in the dorms. We talk about those things as it relates to Notre Dame, because we don't want you to get here, and you signed a let- ter of intent, and it wasn't the right fit. You just got sold a bill of goods. It does you no good to get sold a bill of goods, you come to Notre Dame and it's not the right fit for you. "We're not better than anybody else, but you're shopping down a different aisle. That's clear in the re- cruiting process." What has always been clear is lif.) Washington Union, Jeff Freitas, said his star pass catcher had spoken with his cousin Tee Shepard, a 2012 defensive back already enrolled at Notre Dame, the night before sign- ing day and explained his change of heart. Kelly said it was news to him. "We found that out today," he said on Feb. 1. what we're about," Kelly said. "We made sure this is what you're going to get at Notre Dame. For me, it's hard to be disappointed about something you never had or never coached." Greenberry's coach at Fresno (Ca- "We painted the picture clearly about Name Nick Baratti Chris Brown Scott Daly Sheldon Day WR LS there are many bizarre twists in the recruiting process all the way until it's time to ink the deal. Notre Dame was stunned the morning of National Signing Day Feb. 1 when five-star re- ceiver Deontay Greenberry turned an Irish verbal commitment into a signed letter of intent faxed to Houston. www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Justin Ferguson Mark Harrell Jarron Jones Gunner Kiel Will Mahone Romeo Okwara C.J. Prosise Elijah Shumate Ronnie Stanley John Turner KeiVarae Russell Tee Shepard WR OL DL QB RB LB DL DB RB CB DB OL DB Ht. 6-2 6-2 6-3 6-2 6-2 6-5 6-6 6-4 6-0 6-4 6-0 6-0 6-1 6-1 6-6 6-0 done recruiting him," Kelly said. "Even though Gunner had made his decision, there just seemed to be a connection there that we weren't ready to give up on. We were right, because Gunner's happy; he's happy to be here. … We felt like this was the right place for him at Notre Dame, and that kept us involved. "He's seen us play a number of PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS times. He's seen our offense. He was very comfortable within the realm of our offense and being confident that he could come in and run our offense. He made a decision to come to Notre Dame because he feels com- fortable in the system that we run here." Whether it was Kiel flipping for think differently when 17- and 18- year olds are making decisions for their next five years," he said. "It's arguably the biggest decision they've ever made, and they're putting them- selves in that position for the first 2012 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL RECRUITING CLASS Pos. DB Wt. 200 175 245 275 205 270 298 220 210 240 205 177 175 205 285 206 Hometwon (Previous School) Tomball, Texas (Klein Oak) Hanahan, S.C. (Hanahan) Downers Grove, Ill. (South) Indianapolis (Warren Central) Pembroke Pine, Fla. (Flanagan) Charlotte, N.C. (Catholic) Notre Dame or losing Greenberry, Kelly said nothing really surprises him anymore. "I don't know that anybody would Rochester, N.Y. (Aquinas Institute) Columbus, Ind. (East) Austintown, Ohio (Fitch) Charlotte, N.C. (Ardrey Kell) Petersburg, Va. (Woodberry Forest) Everett, Wash. (Mariner) Fresno, Calif. (Washington Union) East Orange, N.J. (Don Bosco Prep) Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) Indianapolis (Cathedral) MARCH 2012 17