Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 151 He ran a 4.37 40-yard dash at The Open- ing and won the Fastest Man Challenge at the event two years in a row. • Notre Dame also added a do-it-all weapon at wide receiver in St. Louis De Smet Jesuit's Jordan Johnson, who Rivals ranked as the No. 5 wide receiver and No. 28 overall recruit nationally. The five-star talent caught 83 passes for 1,963 yards and 27 touchdowns during his high school career, and played a vital role in turning around a De Smet program that went 1-9 in 2017 to 14-0 in 2019, capped by its first state title since 2005. Johnson's com- bination of speed, size, fluid route-running ability and clean hands will give him the opportunity to play early in his Notre Dame career. • Finally, the tight end tradition at Notre Dame should continue to thrive with Inde- pendence (Ky.) Covington Catholic's Mi- chael Mayer, who Rivals listed as the No. 36 overall player nationally. After a strong se- nior season, Mayer was bumped up to the No. 23 overall player in the country and earned five-star status from 247Sports. Mayer had a terrific all-around campaign last fall, catching 49 passes for 970 yards and 15 touchdowns, plus two rushing scores. He dominated on defense as well, posting 102.5 tackles and four interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. Mayer was named the 2019 Kentucky Football Coaches Association's Mr. Football and the 2019 Gatorade Kentucky Player of the Year. He played a significant role helping Covington Catholic to a Kentucky 5A state championship last fall and was named MVP of the title game. The average Rivals national ranking of the 2008 quartet was 36, while the 2020 group has an average of 65. To compete for the national championship, the Irish must recruit elite offensive weapons. On paper in the 2020 class, Brian Kelly's squad is trending in the right direction. National (And Interna- tional) Recruiting Base Notre Dame has always been known to have a national recruiting base, and that was on display in the 2020 class. Sixteen different states, nations or districts were represented among the 17 prospects who inked with the Fighting Irish. New Jer- sey was the lone state with multiple signees: Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic tight end Kevin Bauman and Middletown (N.J.) Mater Dei cornerback Clarence Lewis. For the first time in Brian Kelly's tenure, the Irish landed a prospect from the state of Mississippi. Cornerback Caleb Offord signed in December and enrolled at Notre Dame in January. He is from Southaven, Miss., which is a small town directly south of downtown Memphis. Indiana was not a state represented in the 2020 class, something that had not happened at Notre Dame since the 2017 cycle. It is only the third time the Irish haven't inked an in-state prospect in the Kelly era, with 2016 the other instance. Led by recruiting and special teams coor- dinator Brian Polian, the program did go all the way out to Hawai'i to reel in Honolulu St. Louis School pass rusher Jordan Botelho. Defensive line coach Mike Elston had a recruiting trip out to Germany in Janu- ary 2019 for defensive end Alexander Eh- rensberger from Dusseldorf. Shortly after Elston's visit, Ehrensberger pledged to the Fighting Irish. "I still think Chicago, Ill., to Honolulu is a bit longer," Polian joked about his and Elston's long recruiting travels. "We might have to settle the bet with that one." According to Google, Polian is correct. His flight to Hawai'i was 4,243 miles — 13 miles longer than Elston's journey to Ger- many. "The great diversity throughout our stu- dent body is reflective in this class," Kelly said during his early signing period press conference last December. "International representation with Alex Ehrensberger … from Germany. This does not mean we are going to turn into an international juggernaut in the recruiting world, but it does mean that we won't have our blinders on when it comes to recruiting [overseas]. "We will search and find the best fits for our football program, wherever they may be." Botelho and Ehrensberger will have the opportunity to shine on opposite sides of the defensive line. Botelho, a 6-2, 229-pounder, will play Notre Dame's weak-side defensive end spot, called the "vyper," while the 6-7, 247-pounder Ehrensberger will align on the strong side. Botelho was an inside linebacker at the high school level, but flashed when he blitzed off the edge. A consensus four-star recruit, he tallied 35.5 stops and 10 sacks as a senior while leading St. Louis to the Division I Open Hawai'i state championship. He was a part of three state title-winning teams in high school. Ehrensberger was disruptive during his playing days in Germany, posting seven sacks, three forced fumbles, a safety, two blocked kicks and two fumble recoveries in 2019. No Linebacker Prospects Notre Dame opted not to take a linebacker in the 2020 class, despite being in prime posi- tion for a highly rated prospect with Irish ties. Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter's Prep's Cody Simon, who was ranked as the nation's No. 5 inside linebacker and No. 43 overall recruit by Rivals, was considered an Irish lean early in his recruiting process. But once the summer months arrived, the staff seemed to have cooled on him and he committed to Ohio State. Simon is the younger brother of Notre Dame linebacker Shayne Simon, who will enter his junior season this fall. Whether or not the Irish simply passed on taking the younger Simon or if there were other factors in play is a moot point, but it is a fact that the staff did not pursue him Notre Dame traveled 4,000-plus miles from South Bend in order to sign Honolulu St. Louis pass rush- er Jordan Botelho (above) and German defensive end Alexander Ehrensberger. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Recruiting Area Responsibilities • Tommy Rees (offensive coordinator/quar- terbacks) — Chicago, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri • Lance Taylor (running backs) — Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina • Del Alexander (wide receivers coach) — Ari- zona and Southern California • John McNulty (tight ends) — Florida • Jeff Quinn (offensive line) — All of the Northeast and Michigan • Clark Lea (defensive coordinator/lineback- ers) —Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, North Caro- lina, Tennessee and Virginia • Mike Elston (defensive line) — Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio • Mike Mickens (cornerbacks) — Southern Ohio and Detroit • Terry Joseph (safeties) — Georgia and Louisiana • Brian Polian (special teams/recruiting co- ordinator) — Overseas recruiting process, plus recruits in California, Hawai'i, Oregon, Texas, Washington and the rest of the West region