Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the likes of Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt are two very different beasts, but Kiel has a lot going for him as he settles in on campus. His two older brothers have drilled him on game film since he was a high school freshman. More importantly, they've taught him everything he should ex- pect off the field and in school. Kelly's spread offense should The Columbus East defense and come naturally to Kiel because it is all he has ever run. Kiel passed for more than 7,000 yards and ran for more than 1,000 in his three years as a starter. Gaddis started implement- ing the spread when Drew Kiel was a FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE QB GUNNER KIEL player in the country … Rated as the No. 1 signal-caller and No. 10 overall prospect nationally by Super- Prep … Considered a five-star recruit, the top player in Indiana, the top quarterback in the land and the nation's 20th-best prospect by Rivals.com … Listed as a five-star prospect, the nation's best pro-style quarterback, Indiana's top player and the No. 24 overall prospect in the class of 2012 by 247Sports … Tabbed as a five-star player, the No. 1 quarterback in the country and the No. 38 overall prospect nationally by Scout.com … Rated as a four-star prospect, the top recruit in Indiana, the second-best player in the Midwest, the third-best quarterback in the country and the No. 52 overall player in the nation by ESPNU. Statistics: Finished his high school career with 7,175 passing yards … Threw for 2,517 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior, and also ran for 482 yards and 11 scores … Accounted for 31 touchdowns as a junior (25 passing and six rushing) while throwing for 2,500 yards and running for 425. Honors: Second-team pick on USA Today's All-USA high school team … Earned an honorable men- tion on SI.com's All-America team … Named the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year … SuperPrep's Midwest Offensive Player of the Year … Listed as the top player in Indiana on Detroit Free-Press Best of the Midwest team … Selected as Indiana's Mr. Football by the Indianapolis Star … One of three signal- callers selected to the Indiana Football Coaches Association Top 50 all-state team for 2011 … Tabbed as a first-team all-state at quarterback by the Associated Press … Honorable mention all-state selection as a junior in 2010. All-Star Games And Camps: Started at quarterback for the East team at the U.S. Army All-American to a 12-2 record and a strong playoff run before falling to fellow Irish commit John Turner and India- napolis Cathedral in the state semifinals … The youngest of three brothers, all of whom have received scholarships to play quarterback in college … His uncle, Blair Kiel, played quarterback for Notre Dame form 1980-83 and passed for 3,650 yards in 29 career starts, and also spent seven seasons in the NFL with Tampa Bay, Indianapolis and Green Bay … Enrolled at Notre Dame for the 2012 spring semester. Rankings: Ranked by MaxPreps.com and Tom Lemming as the top quarterback and the No. 2 overall 6-4 ·220 · Columbus East H.S. · Columbus, Ind. Notable: Born on July 23, 1993 … Runs the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds … Led Columbus (Ind.) East Bowl Jan. 7 in San Antonio … Completed 3 of 6 passes for 71 yards with one interception, and was credited with one rushing attempt for minus-15 yards in the 24-12 loss … Invited to the Elite 11 Passing Camp in Malibu, Calif. Brian Kelly's Comments: "You have to appreciate the fact that he comes from a family of quarter- backs. He grew up playing the game of football. One of things that stood out on my visit to Gunner's home was they had the basketball courts, and they had the football fields, and they had the pole barn with a batting cage. This is a young man that comes from a very competitive family." Columbus East head coach Bob Gaddis' Comments: "I really think that for a quarterback, leadership Kiel passed for more than 7,000 yards and ran for more than 1,000 in his three years as a sophomore. To find out how to use it effectively he turned to Kelly, follow- ing the coach across the Midwest to gobble up any information he might have to share. The Olympians have run an elementary version of Kelly's offense for the past seven years with a Kiel taking virtually every snap. What Kiel is able to accomplish in his first year at Notre Dame, or in however many years follow, is im- possible to predict. The Irish have had top-rated quarterbacks that gracefully leapt from high school to the college game and others who never landed. Kiel will have to compete against a room already full of talented quar- terbacks — the veteran, junior-to-be Tommy Rees with his attention to de- tail and high football IQ, and a pair of athletic, physical playmakers in Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson. Kiel should feel right at home. ✦ 34 MARCH 2012 starter at Columbus (Ind.) East High School. PHOTO COURTESY U.S. ARMY ALL-AMERICAN GAME starts in the offseason. It's easy for anybody on Friday nights to be a guy who wants to be vocal and talk. There's a place for that, but real leadership starts in the offseason, and Gunner was a great leader in the offseason." Tom Lemming Of Prep Football Report: "He and Jameis Winston [Florida State] were definitely the two best quarterbacks in the country. What Les [Miles] said could give him motivation to be even bet- ter. There was a problem with his decision making [about schools], and quarterbacks should be good decision makers. He's a big guy who can run a little bit. He's not going to be like Everett Golson, but he can run. He can be an impact player and should be in the mix for starting quarterback come September because he's a mid-term grad. I can't say enough good things about him." Recruitment: Originally committed to join his brother in Indiana in July, but changed his mind in October … Committed to LSU Dec. 27, but chose Notre Dame the day before enrolling in classes Jan. 17 … Vanderbilt was also considered a finalist in his recruitment … Made an unofficial visit to Notre Dame Oct. 22 when the Irish played USC … Took his official visit to South Bend Dec. 9 … Recruited by head coach Brian Kelly and former assistant Charley Molnar. Favorite Part Of Notre Dame Visit: "Being around the guys and getting to know the guys on the team." Why He Chose Notre Dame: "There were three things I was looking for: quality education, how com- fortable I felt with the players and coaches, and how close it was to home for me. Notre Dame offered the best of those three and was the perfect fit for me." Scouting Report: Possesses both a strong arm and the ability to make plays with his legs … While comparisons have been made to Dayne Crist, consider Kiel a more balanced version that can stretch the play and make throws outside of the pocket, which is a more ideal fit in Brian Kelly's scheme … Considered the top passer in the nation for a reason and capable of making the throws at the different levels and while on the move … Great frame, strong delivery and innate ability in the pocket. 2012 Projection: Joins three other Notre Dame quarterbacks in another strong competition for the starting job … He operated a spread offense in high school, which should help him adjust quickly to Brian Kelly's playbook … He will have to outplay the athleticism of Everett Golson and Andrew Hendrix as well as the experience of Tommy Rees to see the field as a freshman … Kelly said he expects Kiel to compete for a chance to play right away starting in spring practice in March … His ability to digest a college playbook will play a big role in what the depth chart looks like in September. 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