Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2017 63 FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY LOU SOMOGYI N otre Dame head coach Brian Kelly admitted it was "disappointing" last October when vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick issued a public vote of confidence on his coach's future amidst a 4-8 season. The disconcertment stemmed from being put in such a position in the first place. That tune changed this winter, when Swarbrick's involvement in the recruiting process was a necessity and an asset. Despite Swarbrick's endorsement last fall, inevitable suspicion from the outside looking in was that Kel- ly's days at his current post might be numbered. It started showing it- self on the recruiting trail. When the losses mounted, the decommitments followed. A 2017 recruiting class that was ranked as high as No. 6 in mid-Oc- tober with 18 verbal commitments gradually began to erode with five prospects switching their allegiance from the Irish, most notably defen- sive lineman Donovan Jeter (Michi- gan) and linebacker Pete Werner (Ohio State). While Ohio State and Michigan were reaffirming their status as the alpha dogs in the Midwest, Kelly succeeded Charlie Strong as the college coach on the hottest seat in America — with Strong accepting the South Florida position after getting fired at Texas. Notre Dame recruiting coordina- tor/defensive line coach Mike Elston admitted that in mid-January he had his doubts about whether the Fight- ing Irish would get past the 15 verbal commitments that remained true to the school. The shaky situation required the presence of Swarbrick in the recruit- ing process more than usual through the fall and winter. "Every weekend, Jack Swarbrick met with our recruits," Kelly noted. "That's unusual. I don't think that happens everywhere that your ath- letic director makes himself able to meet with recruits." Of course, Kelly would have pre- ferred that not having to be the case because of the circumstances. "In a lot of instances he had to be there to support our football pro- gram and talk to recruits about where this program is and where it's going," Kelly stated. "There are questions when a family comes on campus. He reminded them about the investment we were mak- ing in staff and what we were doing for the present and for the future. "Having Jack's involvement in this was absolutely crucial to get to where we are." All things considered, to finish among the nation's top 15 on the re- cruiting trail with 21 players signed — six coming aboard in the final weeks and days — was somewhat of a coup. "With the kind of season we had, the first question out of everybody — 'How long is Coach Kelly here?'" stated the Irish head coach frankly. "'Is this his last year? What kind of year does he have to have?' "Jack assured them there's no prob- lems with the football program. This is a program that is on solid ground. It was not the year that anybody wanted." Mainly emphasized by Kelly is he personally recruited a mostly new staff — six on-field assistants and two major new figures in director of football performance Matt Balis and assistant David Ballou — with no restrictions from Swarbrick or the school. "We're certainly not going to come in here and invest in all the coaches we've invested in because we think we're in a short-term situation," Kelly said of Swarbrick's message to re- cruits and their families. "We're in a great situation here. We're going to build on the young players that we played last year, and we're going to return Notre Dame to where it should be. "We were given the opportunity to go out and find the very best. This was not, 'Look, we're limited. You can only get this; you can only spend this much money.' We were given the opportunity to find the very best. The charge was: find the very best coaches." For Kelly, the charge in 2017 is to make it all pay off both on the field and on the recruiting circuit to rein- force Swarbrick's faith. Jack Swarbrick Runs Interference In 2017 Recruiting Swarbrick reassured prospects and their families about the future of the Irish football program. PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS