Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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154 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW and No. 60 player in the class according to 247Sports, and then fend off Oklahoma and Clemson for Boudreaux, Rivals' No. 21 offensive tackle in the country. It's a trio of linemen that had Kelly smiling on National Signing Day when he was asked how important the additions were for the Irish. "Parker Boudreaux has that physical pres- ence inside — he's a Quenton Nelson in terms of size and physicality," Kelly said. "Then we have two edge guys with Liam and Tommy on the outside. Those two kids are as good as you're go- ing to find in the country, and we couldn't be more excited to have two kids from the state of Ohio, from two great Catholic schools in St. Ignatius and Cincinnati Elder." That same excitement could also be applied to the defensive back class. After missing out on a number of safeties late in 2015, the Irish cast a wide web of offers during the spring evaluation period and were able to lure two top targets and eventual signees to campus for the Irish In- vasion in Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) three- star safety Devin Studstill, Rivals' No. 45 athlete in the land, and Chesterfield (Va.) L.C. Bird four-star safety Jalen Elliott, the No. 15 safety in the country. "Jalen Elliott competed like no player that I have seen since I've been coaching in a camp setting, and that's over 25 years," Kelly said. "His competitive spirit was un- matched. It was unparalleled — this kid competed at every position at such a level that he was a can't-miss guy for us in the recruiting process. "Same thing with Devin Studstill. He showed corner-like ability, but he had the size of a safety. Our guys went right to them early on, and that was a focal point. We got a chance to see them up close and personal and saw their characteristics, their traits, the way they competed, the way they interacted. They didn't say a word, they just went and competed." Both Elliott and Studstill, who enrolled in January and worked with the first-team defense, are expected to be part of the de- fensive back rotation this season and provide more than just depth for the Irish. That could also be the case with Greer (S.C.) High four- star cornerback Troy Pride, who was ranked No. 23 nationally at his position by Rivals and ran a 10.55 100 me- ters to win a state title in track this spring (one of four gold medals he earned at the meet). The one-time Vir- ginia Tech commit was described by defensive backs coach Todd Lyght as a prospect the Irish couldn't miss on for mul- tiple reasons. "He's a guy who's really going to come in and try to be a techni- cian," Lyght said, noting Pride's elite speed and raw coverage skills. "Troy has a unique combination of athletic ability and competitive- ness that are a winning formula for a defensive back," Kelly added. "He's a special young man." Which is good be- cause cornerback, just like safety and the offen- sive line, was a position that was going to define the class. The Master Of 'Flips' Speaking of Pride, the speedy cornerback was one of seven Notre Dame signees that were committed to another school but ended up inking with the Irish. While there's no question that the so-called 'flip' played an integral part in construct- ing the recruiting class for the Irish, it was another number that proved to be even more impressive when it came to the ever-changing minds of high school prospects. For the first time in seven tries, Kelly and the Irish went an entire recruiting cycle with- out taking a hit from a decommitment. "It's awesome," Kelly joked when asked about his drama-free National Signing Day. "Everybody should try it once in their ca- reers." The flip-free finish might appear to some to be a product of Notre Dame's slow start on the trail, which saw a number of high-profile regional targets pick other schools during the spring months, but Kelly agued that it had do more with his staff wanting to build relation- ships with the right prospects and wanting to wait to push for a commitment. Take Hayes for example. The blue-chip recruit gave a verbal pledge to Southern Cali- fornia the spring before his junior season of high school. He spent the next year and a half telling the media that he was 'married' to the Trojans, but that didn't stop Irish defensive line coach Keith Gilmore from reaching out. Gilmore made a call here and there to Hayes, but he never once pressured the consensus No. 1 prospect in Michigan to change his mind. He instead let Hayes make the decision on his own to back away from USC and then commit to Notre Dame with the understand- ing that he couldn't take official visits to other schools. "There's no drama because I think we did a great job of really getting to know the guys who we were signing," Kelly said. "We had a unified staff, a clear message. Mike Elston did a great job of taking my message and reinforcing it every single day. There was a consistency in terms of what the message was. That's number one. "I think number two is that we vetted out better than we ever have because we were further out on our recruits in terms of time. We had more time with them to make sure that they were kids that would fit here at Notre Dame. I think those two things stood out for me — that we didn't have the kind of back and forth." El Dorado Hills (Calif.) Oak Ridge three- star quarterback Ian Book said he wasn't planning to give any other schools a look when he committed to Washington State in early April, but that changed when Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Sanford called in May and asked if there was any interest in the Irish. "I knew Coach Sanford from when he was at Boise State," Book said. "He kept just telling me that we could only talk so much without me seeing Notre Dame. "He talked me into a visit. He told me it was going to get serious and that he was go- ing to make it work, and it did. Once I got to see Notre Dame, I knew it was an opportu- nity that I couldn't pass up." Several Pac-12 schools reached out a few months later and tried to use Notre Dame's depth chart in an effort to keep him on the West Coast. "Wherever you go there's going to be a lot of quarterbacks battling for a job, and that doesn't scare me," Book said. "The 2017 quarterback coming in, whoever that may be, I guarantee you he'll be good. Notre Dame was always getting good quarterbacks. That's just part of the game. I'm not worried." Playmakers A Plenty Notre Dame was holding out hope to add who the coaches thought could be the next Will Fuller for the offense when Savannah (Ga.) Christian School five-star wide re- ceiver Demetris Robertson's recruitment Four-star cornerback Troy Pride, who won four South Carolina state titles on the track, could make an immediate impact, based on his speed and coverage ability. PHOTO COURTESY TROY PRIDE