Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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92 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW There was only true defensive line pros- pect signed in 2004 (Ronald Talley), but he transferred to Delaware. In 2005, the Irish missed out on all their top prospects along the defensive front during the coaching tran- sition from Ty Willingham to Charlie Weis. In 2006, Weis' 28-man "killer class" fea- tured no true defensive linemen. In 2007, the Irish landed another top-10 recruiting harvest — but again fell way short along the defen- sive line even though it was the foremost need on the team. Three-star nose guard Ian Williams was the lone true defen- sive line prospect in the class. The same issues continued to fester in 2009 when Notre Dame signed only one defen- sive lineman (Tyler Stockton) when it needed at least three or four. Like Parseghian in 1964, Kel- ly's first order of business when he took the post was to build a dominant defensive front. It began when the Irish surpris- ingly landed Floridan nose guard Louis Nix in 2010. Nationally, Nix was the highest-rated player in the Irish class that year. Then in 2011, the Irish reeled in six defensive linemen — headlined by five-star prospects Aaron Lynch, Stephon Tuitt and Ishaq Williams, although Lynch would transfer after one season and Williams would be ineligible his last two. The heart and soul of the 12-0 regular sea- son in 2012 was the defensive front seven. Linebacker Manti Te'o earned most of the accolades, but the front line of the power- ful Nix, first-team All-American Tuitt (12 sacks) and fifth-year senior Kapron Lewis- Moore controlled the action and protected a green secondary. Since then, the Irish have had the prover- bial solid lines but not the dominant ones. In 2017, the early projections aren't much different. Counterpoint: Irish D-Line Woes Overstated Competing for championships is never about one thing. There are ingredients con- sistent in most of the nation's top programs, but there are also differences. Notre Dame's defensive line has not been consistently good enough the last 20 years, and it's no coincidence that the program's two best stretches (2005-06 and 2012) had teams with lines that produced both good col- lege players and multiple NFL performers. There is no disputing that Notre Dame's defensive line play has been a problem. Di- agnosing the sickness is the easy part, but in order to fix the problem the cause must be properly identified. The excuse most used is Notre Dame sim- ply can't recruit well enough along the de- fensive line to be a legitimate championship football team. Geographic, d e m o g r a p h i c a n d academic alibis are given, but has re- cruiting really been t h e problem? In short, no. The primary issue at Notre Dame the last several years has been the program's in- ability to develop players to the point where they are tapping into their full potential. Exhibit A is Notre Dame's 2016 defensive line, the one that struggled all season and tallied just three sacks. The depth chart up front had seven players graded as a five- or four-star player by Rivals. Six were ranked as Rivals250 players. Looking at 247Sports' composite rank- ings tells the same story. Notre Dame had 10 four-star recruits according to the composite ranking and 10 listed among the top 350. For context, let's look at a pair of 2016 playoff teams — Ohio State and Washing- ton — that were known for strong defensive line play. Ohio State had eight players graded out as five- or four-star recruits by Rivals, just one more than Notre Dame. It had six Rivals250 players, the same number as Notre Dame. The Buckeyes had nine players graded out as five- or four-star recruits on the 247Sports composite rankings and nine top-350 play- ers — both one short of Notre Dame's totals. Washington had only three defensive line- men ranked as four-star recruits by Rivals, and just one was a Rivals250 player. It had a mere four linemen graded out as four- star recruits by the 247Sports composite ranking, numbers significantly lower than Notre Dame. The Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI) ranked Ohio State as the No. 2 defense in the country this past season, while Washington was No. 3. Notre Dame, with more four-star recruits on its defensive line roster, ranked No. 63. In October 2015, Clemson defeated Notre Dame 24-22, and the Tigers went on to be the national runner-up to Alabama that season. Clemson had seven players graded out as four- or five-star recruits on its defensive line, and five were ranked as Rivals250 players. Both were one short of Notre Dame's tally. Clemson had nine players graded out as five- or four-star recruits on the 247Sports composite rankings, with nine checking into the top 350. Both numbers are one short of what Notre Dame had on its 2016 roster. Notre Dame has gone 2-5 against Stanford under Kelly, and the Cardinal has been very good up front under both former coach Jim Harbaugh and current coach David Shaw. However, Stanford's 2016 roster had just five four-star recruits on the defensive line and four Rivals250 players. It had just six players graded out as five- or four-star re- cruits on the 247Sports composite ranking, and just six were in the top 350. Of course, it could be true that Notre Dame and all four major recruiting services were just way off on the rankings of the Irish de- Alan Page was a three-year starter at end from 1964-66 and earned consensus All-America ac- colades in 1966 while helping the Irish win the national championship. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS