Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 155 It was an impressive five-day stretch for the Irish, but the additions to the defen- sive line wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for the conversion of Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian four-star tackle Jerry Tillery. Tillery, who committed to Notre Dame as a sophomore, was originally recruited to play offensive tackle, but that changed in the weeks leading up to his enrollment in Janu- ary, when Tillery announced that he would be playing defensive tackle. "Here is a young man that early in the recruiting process we looked at as an of- fensive line prospect," Kelly said. "As we moved along in the process, we really started to drill down a little deeper. He's been coached by some very good coaches, in par- ticular, Peter Jenkins, the leg- endary defensive line coach who has had a stellar career in the NFL and college, most recently with USC. "He's coached Jerry and because of that, Jerry pos- sesses some skill sets that most defensive tackles don't have, and that is the ability to use his hands. Jerry has a unique ability to take that size of 6-6, he's actually 318 pounds now, and use his hands and separate and run that showed we could have a domi- nating defensive lineman." Early returns proved that might be the case. Tillery spent much of spring camp working with the first-team unit and drew praise from new defensive line coach Keith Gilmore. "Jerry, for his size, is such a flexible ath- lete," Gilmore said. "It's amazing sometimes the things that you can see him do. I think he had some good coaching in high school, so he came with a skill set that's probably a little superior to most freshman coming in. He just continues to improve — he's going to be a good football player here." While supplementing the defensive line with bodies was certainly a priority for the staff, so was adding a pair of running backs. Notre Dame elected to not sign a running back in 2014 for the first time since the late 1980s, which meant the staff had to double up this time around given the lack of depth. The Irish secured a commitment from Warrington (Pa.) Central Bucks South three- star running back Josh Adams June 30 after the Irish Invasion, but the quest to find a second back came down to the 11th hour. Notre Dame courted a pair of Texas pros- pects in Plano West five-star Soso Jamabo and McKinney North four-star running back Ronald Jones, but after the two told the Irish they were headed elsewhere, the staff put the press on Orlando (Fla.) West Orange four- star running back Dexter Williams, Rivals' No. 12 running back in the land. Just an hour after Jones gave a pledge to USC Jan. 2 at the Under Armour All-Ameri- can Game, Williams decommitted from Mi- ami following a phone call with then-Notre Dame running backs coach Tony Alford. Alford made the pitch to Williams simple. He told the explosive back that Notre Dame needed him, and that he could take him to the next level. That's exactly what Wil- liams wanted to hear, and that's what led to an official visit. "I weighed out a lot of pros and cons, but after that visit I just knew, Notre Dame is where I wanted to be," Wil- liams said. "The coaches told me that they could put me where I want to go." Williams committed to the staff the weekend of Jan. 15, but waited to make things of- ficial. Alford — who was still on staff at the time — teased Notre Dame fans by taking to social media the morning of National Signing Day and announcing that he liked "fresh JUICE in the morning." That juice was Williams, who carried the nickname since he was little and plans to go by the name in South Bend. While Williams certainly came as one of the biggest signatures on National Signing Day given the small suspense and build up, arguably three of the most important faxes that arrived in the Guglielmino Athletics Complex came from a group of defensive backs. The Irish were able to flip Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward four-star cornerback Shaun Crawford from Michigan, court For- estville (Md.) Bishop McNamara three-star cornerback Ashton White and lock up Ket- tering (Ohio) Archbishop Alter three-star cornerback Nick Coleman before many schools knew about him. It is a group that can play multiple posi- tions, and Kelly made that clear on National Signing Day. "We see him as an inside and outside cor- ner for us," Kelly said of Coleman. "I think we have three of them that we recruited in Coleman and Crawford and Ashton White. All three of those guys can play both inside and outside for us, meaning they can play that nickel or that corner position on the outside. And they will all compete for that in and out corner position, which is very vital to us in situational defense, and in particular, our sub packages. "We believe the three of those guys will compete for playing time early on. "I think the three corners," he added when asked what was a must get in the recruiting class. "That gives us the flexibility in our sub package, which is absolutely crucial." Irish Find Top Talent On Offense While landing a trio of cornerbacks was vital, inking a quarterback was not. That is until Kelly and the coaching staff saw Bran- don Wimbush's mid-season highlight tape. The Irish had secured an early commit- ment from Corona (Calif.) Santiago four- star quarterback Blake Barnett in November 2013 and looked all set under center with an elite talent on the way, but then the situation changed. Barnett picked up scholarship offers from Alabama and Oregon, and he started to look around. He flirted with the Ducks and took a visit to the Pac-12 school, before deciding to decommit from the Irish and eventually commit to Alabama. "We were going to be okay if we didn't take a quarterback," Kelly said on National Signing Day. "Until I saw Brandon on film in his first couple games, and just totally changed my mind after I watched him. He just did so many of the things that I think a complete quarterback needs to do." Landing the talented signal-caller would require some work. Wimbush, who was a star at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, N.J., was committed to Penn State and in constant con- tact with Nittany Lions' head coach James Franklin. That didn't stop Kelly from making his pitch and getting the eventual "flip." "Elite academics drew me for sure — the football and academic combination at Notre Dame is amazing," Wimbush told Rivals. "For a life decision you can't go wrong with Notre Dame or Penn State, but I felt Notre Dame was just at a higher level for what I was looking for and for connections after college." The signature of a four-star prospect and Rivals No. 4 dual-threat QB nationally cer- tainly boosted Notre Dame's offensive re- cruiting down the stretch, but it will likely be a few years before Wimbush sees the field. That's won't be the case when it comes to Las Vegas Bishop Gorman four-star Aliz'e Jones, the country's No. 4 tight end. Jones, who was committed to UCLA for a majority of the recruiting process, gave a pledge to the Irish in mid-January after tak- ing a visit to South Bend. Kelly claims the reason the U.S. Army All-American back away from the Bruins was because he knew Notre Dame was able to flip Lake- wood (Ohio) St. Edward four-star cornerback Shaun Crawford from Michigan. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA