Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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football recruiting a scandal that mired the reputation of the program's marquee player and a scare that head coach Brian Kelly might be jetting for the NFL. "Our coaches did a good job of settling down a trepidation and an uncertainty with that," Alford said of Kelly's flirtation with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. Alford himself added highly rated running backs Tarean Folston and Greg Bryant, the ninth- and 10th-best players, respectively, at the position nationally according to 247Sports, to the commits list during December and January. Bryant and Folston will both have the potential to play early in their careers and represent two of the better backfield players in the talent-rich state of Florida this year. Denbrock, who patrols the West Coast for Notre Dame, also finished on a high note by pulling four-star safety Max Redfield and five-star defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes into the fold during the month of January. Both players are expected to compete for playing time next fall and add another layer of athleticism to the Irish defense. "What makes that more remarkable is that both those guys were former USC commits," Scout.com national recruiting analyst Brandon Huffman said. "Notre Dame punched them in the mouth." Martin earned his way on to the top50 list this season by taking the lead role in the recruitment of offensive linemen Hunter Bivin, Steve Elmer and Colin McGovern. He also scooped up a commitment from dual-threat Recruiting coordinator and running backs coach Tony Alford (above) joined receivers coach Mike Denbrock and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Chuck Martin on 247Sports list of the top 50 recruiters. Photo by joe raymond quarterback Malik Zaire from Ohio and convinced one of the class's top athletes, Philadelphia's Will Fuller, to leave Penn State to come to Notre Dame. Mob Mentality Early in the recruiting cycle last spring, a handful of the members of the 2013 class took to Twitter to ask fans for a fun way to brand themselves. They wanted a nickname to cement their status as a tight-knit group. Among the varied suggestions was "Irish Mob '13." The moniker stuck. "I didn't expect it to get as big as it did. We should've trademarked it," said Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga athlete Devin Butler, one of the original