Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2020 21 2020 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE WEATHER OR NOT The aspect Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly most appreciates about the early signing period in December is instead of traveling around in January to make sure all the verbal pledges remain on board, concentration can be exclusively placed on the next class. In his Notre Dame podcast — Pod- ward — Kelly recalled what it was like with Louisiana native and future first-round pick Jerry Tillery (2015- 18) after he committed to the Irish even prior to his senior year. Kelly indicated "a school from the south" sent Tillery a South Bend weather report every day, hoping he'd be scared off by Indiana's frigid winter months. "We'd always have to go around the country and 'reaffirm' their com- mitment," Kelly said. "By having this early signing day, we don't have to worry about weather reports." Some of his priority visits this Jan- uary for the 2021 harvest were North Carolina running back Will Shipley, Michigan offensive linemen Rocco Spindler and Garrett Dellinger, and Missouri cornerback Jakailin John- son, among many others. BUMP & RUN In his podcast, Kelly said if there is one element he could change in recruiting, it would be in the "bump" rule he again experienced in January. "I was on the road, but it's an eval- uation period so I can't have contact," Kelly said. "You're allowed what is called a 'bump.' Now, a bump means you can bump into the prospective student-athlete, shake [his] hand, say 'hello,' a couple of nice things and then you've got to move on." The issue is he often feels pressure to do more than that, which would be an NCAA recruiting violation. "Most don't want that," he said. "When you go into the high school, they would like you to sit down with the recruit and spend time with [him]. I choose not to. I want to fol- low the NCAA rules, but it's very dif- ficult when you put the head coach in that position, that it's a 'bump,' and it's not being followed across the board." As an example, Kelly visited Shi- pley's Weddington High School the same day as Alabama head coach Nick Saban and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. "I would like them to change that when the head coach can go on the road, they're allowed contact," he said. "That's the best way to do it be- cause the head coach is not allowed on the road very often. "When he is on the road, you should let the head coach contact that individual, get a sense and feel for that person, so you can start making some decisions as to if he's the right fit for your university." ✦ 3 Rivals top-100 players: wide receiver Jordan Johnson (No. 28), and four-star figures in tight end Michael Mayer (No. 36) and running back Chris Tyree (No. 78), who fell 35 spots since the end of the football season. Six others were classified among the top 250: quarterback DREW PYNE (No. 117), tight end Kevin Bauman (No. 129), offensive tackle Tosh Baker (No. 136) — who had the most dramatic drop from 48, especially because of a minor injury — defensive tackle Rylie Mills (No. 154), defensive end Jordan Botelho (No. 175) and offensive lineman Michael Carmody (No. 230). 5 Teams that dominated the recruiting rankings again while demonstrating how success begets more success: Ala- bama signed 10 Rivals top-100 prospects, while Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and reigning national champ LSU had nine apiece. In the top 50, Clemson and Georgia each had seven, Alabama six and Ohio State four. 6.30 Time ran by running back recruit Chris Tyree in the 55-meter dash in Febru- ary 2019 to win the Virginia state meet — and the fastest posted in the nation that year by a high school athlete. For context purposes, the standard of all speed in Notre Dame annals — recent College Football Hall of Fame enshrinee Raghib "Rocket" Ismail (1988-90) — had a personal best of 6.07 in the event while at Notre Dame, fin- ishing second in the NCAA Championships. In high school, Ismail was reportedly clocked at 6.28 in the 55 meters. 8 Early enrollees who will partake in spring drills that begin March 5: quarterback Drew Pyne, wide receivers Xavier Watts and Jay Brunelle (who underwent shoulder surgery), de- fensive ends Jordan Botelho and Alexander Ehrens- berger, defensive tackle Rylie Mills, and cornerbacks Ramon Henderson and Caleb Offord. Notre Dame first admitted early enrollees in 2006, with 10 the most in 2019. 16 Different states, nations or districts represented among the 17 players who inked with Notre Dame. New Jersey is the lone state with as many as two: tight end Kevin Bauman and cornerback Clarence Lewis. 17 Players signed, the second-fewest in head coach Brian Kelly's 11 seasons at Notre Dame. The lowest was 16 in 2012, a class highlighted by first-round pick Ronnie Stanley. 18 Cumulative ranking for Notre Dame when averaging ESPN (No. 14), 247Sports (No. 17) and Rivals (No. 23). The No. 23 rating was the lowest for Notre Dame since No. 23 in head coach Charlie Weis's final campaign in 2009. However, that 2009 group was later rated by BlueandGold.com as one of the five best for the Irish in the last 30 years because of overall impact and balance, led by linebacker Manti Te'o on defense and tight end Tyler Eifert on offense, plus numerous other prominent figures such as tackle Zack Martin, running back Theo Riddick and safety Zeke Motta, to name a few. 2013 Marked the last year that a Notre Dame quarterback recruit enrolled early: Malik Zaire. That streak ends this year with Pyne. Previously, Notre Dame had a streak of four straight years from 2010-13 where a quarterback enrolled in January: Tommy Rees (2010) — now the program's fourth-year quarterbacks coach and first-year offensive coordinator — Everett Golson (2011), Gunner Kiel (2012) and Zaire. 2020 Recruiting By The Numbers PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM