Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 MARCH 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY BRYAN DRISKELL F rom 1994-2011, Notre Dame failed to finish a season ranked in the top five, and only once (2005) did it finish in the top 10. In the last seven seasons, the Fighting Irish have accomplished a pair of top-five finishes with a 12-1 record in both 2012 and 2018. Beyond the record there are not many similarities between those two teams, but one com- mon thread was outstanding defensive line play. Look around the country and you'll find that outside of Okla- homa, the teams that compete for championships on a regular basis — and the teams push- ing to challenge Alabama and Clemson for supremacy on the national stage — are all strong in the defensive trenches. Development is a vital piece to strong line play, but recruit- ing plays an equally important role to fielding a dominant front. That has been an issue for Notre Dame over the last two decades, but recent classes have started a trajec- tory in the right direction. The Irish signed a trio of top ends in the 2016 class, landing Rivals five-star Daelin Hayes and four-stars Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem. Notre Dame's junior ends — which included Adetokunbo Ogundeji — combined for 133 tackles, 31 tackles for loss and 16 sacks in 2018. And, accord- ing to Pro Football Focus, they also racked up 136 quarterback pressures. Up the middle, senior defensive tackle Jerry Tillery added another 10.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks and 48 pressures. Tillery and the edge rushers fueled Notre Dame's defense, which finished the season ranked 10th in efficiency according to the S&P+. If the Irish want to be a program that competes for championships on a consistent basis, this type of perfor- mance is needed every season. Notre Dame entered the 2019 re- cruiting cycle in desperate need of a strong defensive end haul, and it met that goal. It also required a third straight quality defensive tackle class. Not only did Notre Dame accomplish that objective, it landed its best inte- rior haul since adding Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones in the 2012 class. Four of the five 2019 signees were graded as four-star recruits by Rivals, marking the first time since 2008 that Notre Dame added at least four four- star linemen. Since Rivals first started doing grades in 2002, the Irish have only had two seasons in which they signed more than three four-star de- fensive line recruits in one class — with the 2019 haul being the second time that was accomplished. All five signees earned four-star grades in the 247Sports composite rankings, the first time that hap- pened in the network's 10 years of putting together that listing. It is a class that Notre Dame defensive line coach Mike Elston hopes can serve as the founda- tion for future on-field success that can match — or even sur- pass — what was seen in 2018. CONTINUING STRONG TRENDS INSIDE Being good up the middle has always been important, but re- cent offensive trends have made it even more vital to defensive success. With teams using the pass game to attack the perime- ter with quick throws, defensive tackles have an even greater role in the run game, which tends to be more focused on attacking between the tackles. Offenses are throwing the ball quicker than in the past, in part to negate strong edge pressures. That puts even more emphasis on being able to rush the quarterback up the middle. While much of the talk regard- ing Notre Dame's recruiting woes the last 20 years has cen- tered on recruiting ends, the bigger issue has been consistently recruiting interior players. From 2011-16, the first six full classes of the Kelly era, Notre Dame landed only four defensive tackles that earned four-star grades from Rivals. Since returning to coach the defensive line prior to the 2017 season, Elston has gone a long way towards restocking the depth chart up the middle. Notre Dame's last three classes have matched the previous six years, adding four more defensive tackles that earned a four-star grade from Rivals. He also added three-star re- cruits Kurt Hinish and Myron Tago- vailoa-Amosa in the 2017 class, two players expected to be integral parts of the 2019 defensive line. Last fall, Elston landed four-star defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola, who 247Sports ranked as the nation's No. 45 prospect in the 2018 class. Elston's 2019 haul is his best yet, with two four-star recruits. ESPN lists Bowling Green (Ky.) South Warren defensive tackle Jacob Lacey as the top recruit in Notre Dame's 2019 class, ranking him as the nation's No. 115 overall prospect. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM FRONT OF THE CLASS A deep group of defensive linemen are the cornerstone of Notre Dame's 2019 haul