Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1081575
66 MARCH 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY LOU SOMOGYI A s Notre Dame embarks into the 2020 recruiting cycle, a primary issue that remains among many of its followers is "the next level." When will the Fighting Irish get to the top-tier level in recruiting — top five or so — to help them raise the championship hardware mo- nopolized primarily by Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma the past five years, with Georgia at- tempting to creep into the mix? Notre Dame in the past four years, minus the 4-8 debacle in 2016, has been establishing itself as a top-10 operation — but can it take the next step? The 2019 recruiting cycle serves as another example of being that "solid" top-10 program that is not yet at tier-one level. Believe it or not, in head coach Brian Kelly's 10 recruit- ing cycles at Notre Dame, this year's harvest was tied for the second- lowest ranking (No. 14) by Rivals — and that was with his initial one in 2010 when he and his staff didn't even have a full year to assemble the group. The only one that was lower was the 17-man haul (which soon became 16) in 2012 that ranked No. 20. The Fighting Irish have remained in the top 11-15 of recruiting. Is that enough? Clemson has won two of the last three national titles with only one top-five recruiting class in the seven- year stretch from 2013-19. Those classes were ranked, respectively: 14th, 13th, fourth, sixth, 22nd, eighth and ninth (this year). However, it's not merely about raw numbers but filling crucial needs and also excel- ling at impact positions. No position has greater impact than quarterback, and Clemson's No. 8 class in 2018 included Trevor Law- rence — a five-star talent. A top-five level offensive guard or safety would not have had as much impact. Same with five-star QB Deshaun Watson in Clemson's No. 13-ranked class in 2014. It should also be noted that two of Lawrence's touchdown passes in the 30-3 College Football Playoff victory versus Notre Dame Dec. 29 were to fellow five-star freshman Justyn Ross on 42- and 52-yard strikes. Oklahoma's recruiting in the six cycles from 2011-16 was highly simi- lar to Notre Dame's in recent years. In those seasons the Sooners' recruit- ing ranked 14th, 11th, 15th, 15th, 14th and 16th per Rivals — yet they have been in the four-team College Football Playoff in three of the last four years. Aiding significantly in that achievement was back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners who trans- ferred from other schools — Baker Mayfield (Texas Tech) and Kyler Murray (Texas A&M) — that were not part of the recruiting rankings. Two years ago, Kelly — much to the consternation of many in its fan base — hinted that top-five finishes in recruiting for the Irish probably are unrealistic in today's landscape. "Since I've been here, if you look at the average rankings, we're any- where from five (highest was No. 3 in 2013) to 15," he said. "We're going to fall somewhere in that range because there's a line there we can't get over based upon what our distinctions are here. That line is going to keep us between five and 15. "We know where we're going to fall. We're going to continue to re- cruit the right kind of kids here." Thus, the "distinctions" or the "fit factor" with the school comes into Next-Level Recruiting Must Complement Notre Dame's 'Fit Factor' Dabo Swinney and Clemson have won two of the last three national titles despite securing only one top-five recruiting class from 2013-19, giving Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish reason for optimism. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA