Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2019 21 2019 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY LOU SOMOGYI T he 2019 football recruiting cycle featured the most inactive Feb- ruary National Signing Day in Notre Dame's history. No last-minute drama or surprises. No public press conference or narration of highlight reels by head coach Brian Kelly, other than pre- recorded comments furnished by the university. No assistant coaches taking turns at the microphone to comment on the players signed at their specific posi- tion groups. All Notre Dame waited on the first Wednesday of February was the 3 p.m. Eastern time "official" an- nouncement from four-star defensive end Isaiah Foskey, part of a signing ceremony at superpower Concord (Calif.) De La Salle. One of the worst-kept secrets in the recruiting world was that Foskey had actually signed with Notre Dame in December, but he did not want it made public at the time. Meanwhile, he did not take any official visits to other schools in the interim. Once he announced his decision on ESPN Feb. 6 as anticipated, the 22-man class was finalized. "We were looking for a pass rusher," Kelly told Fighting Irish Me- dia of Foskey's forte. "Certainly any time that you finish up your recruit- ing, you want to finish with some- body we think can make an impact. "Isaiah comes from a great program, De La Salle. It's a great fit, [he's a] strong student, but more importantly, I think we needed that guy that can make a presence in our defense. "If you're looking at it from an NFL perspective, those guys that get paid a lot of money are those cornerbacks and guys that can rush the quarter- back. He certainly can do that." There had also been anticipation in January that California four-star ath- lete Asa Turner, who had originally committed to Washington, might flip to Notre Dame. However, he re- mained with the Huskies because his desire was to play safety at the colle- giate level, whereas the Irish viewed him as a rover. Plus, safety had been perhaps the single strongest position Notre Dame had recruited in the last two recruit- ing cycles. ACCELERATED PROCESS The early signing period in Decem- ber that was first instituted by the NCAA in 2017 has taken away the hullabaloo once associated with the National Signing Day that tradition- ally had been the first Wednesday of February. It is akin to opening Christ- mas presents on Halloween instead of Dec. 24 or 25. Furthermore, of the 21 Irish players signed during the Dec. 19-21 early signing period, a school-record 10 of them already were enrolled for first- semester classes that began at Notre Dame Jan. 15. National Signing Day in February was beyond just yester- day's news; it had become passé. Even last year, the first with the early signing period, Kelly and Co., added six recruits in February after securing 21 with their signatures in December. This year was far more quiet and settled, while the staff cen- tered its concentration on 2020 (and beyond) prospects. Hereafter, Kelly said he and his staff recognize that ANTICLIMACTIC … IN A GOOD WAY On the second National Signing Day for the 2019 class, four-star defensive end Isaiah Foskey is the lone addition to Notre Dame's 22-man group ✦ 2019 NOTRE DAME SIGNEES Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Kendall Abdur-Rahman WR 6-0 185 Edwardsville, Ill. (Edwardsville) Litchfield Ajavon DB 5-11 185 Baltimore (Episcopal [Va.]) JD Bertrand LB 6-1 200 Roswell, Ga. (Blessed Trinity) Jay Bramblett* P 6-1 185 Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Hillcrest) Quinn Carroll* OL 6-6 285 Edina, Minn. (Edina) Brendon Clark QB 6-2 210 Midlothian, Va. (Manchester) Zeke Correll* OL 6-3 275 Cincinnati (Anderson) Howard Cross III DL 6-1 265 Paramus, N.J. (Saint Joseph Regional) Osita Ekwonu LB 6-1 220 Charlotte, N.C. (Providence Day School) Isaiah Foskey DE 6-5 240 Antioch, Calif. (De La Salle) Kyle Hamilton DB 6-3 190 Atlanta (Marist School) Cam Hart WR 6-3 190 Baltimore (Good Counsel) Jack Kiser* LB 6-1 205 Royal Center, Ind. (Pioneer) Andrew Kristofic* OL 6-5 275 Gibsonia, Pa. (Pine-Richland) Jacob Lacey* DL 6-2 295 Bowling Green, Ky. (South Warren) Marist Liufau LB 6-2 205 Kalihi, Hawai'i (Punahou) John Olmstead* OL 6-4 280 North Brunswick, N.J. (St. Joseph) NaNa Osafo-Mensah* DL 6-3 235 Fort Worth, Texas (Nolan Catholic) Isaiah Rutherford DB 6-0 175 Sacramento, Calif. (Jesuit) Hunter Spears* DL 6-3 295 Garland, Texas (Sachse) KJ Wallace DB 5-11 190 Atlanta (The Lovett School) Kyren Williams* RB 5-9 200 St. Louis (St. John Vianney) * Already enrolled for the spring semester that began Jan. 15 Getting the signature of four-star California defensive end Isaiah Foskey this February capped Notre Dame's 2019 recruiting season. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM