Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2021 15 2021 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE College Football Playoff at least twice. "There are schools that are ranked above us in the composite rankings over the last five years in terms of recruiting that have not equaled the production on the field," Polian said. "One of the things we are most proud of is we feel like we are recruiting at a good clip — we can always be better. "And then under Coach [Brian] Kelly's leadership, our staff, our development within the program is translating to wins on the field. We feel like that is a very positive marker for our program right now." Alabama recruits at a consistent Nos. 1-3 level and has six national titles to show for it the past 12 years. Others such as Florida State — ranked No. 2, No. 4, No. 10 and No. 17 in recruiting from 2016-19 — excelled on paper, but was 21-26 on the field the past four years, including 3-6 in 2020. "If you asked Coach [Kelly] … would we rather be a consistently top- five recruiting team, or a team that's consistently in the top five of the polls — which we have been at the end of the season in two of the last three years — I think we would choose the latter," Polian summarized. Why not both, though? In December 2019 during prepara- tions for the Camping World Bowl, Kelly acknowledged he perhaps had sold himself and the staff short of Notre Dame's capabilities to recruit a top-five class, having previously viewed top 10 as the ceiling because of the school's distinctions, specifi- cally to academic and citizenship re- quirements from the student-athletes. Polian said to raise the bar to the top-five level first requires early identification of an elite prospect — current sophomore safety Kyle Ham- ilton as the prototype — who fits the Notre Dame culture. Per associate head coach/defen- sive line coach Mike Elston, who has been with Kelly the past 17 years, in a given year Notre Dame is able to recruit about "less than half" of the nation's top-100 prospects. "Part of the process, too, has been the conviction to walk away from an elite player that you know in your heart is not interested in what we have to offer or may not fit here, so that we can then be more efficient in terms of where we dedicate our re- sources — to the guys that do fit our profile," Polian said. "Player develop- ment is always going to be part of the process here, but I think ultimately in order for us to keep climbing those rankings is to not allow anybody to tell us, 'Hey, you can't get this guy.' "If we feel like it's a match, we're going to go all in and fight those bat- tles, and then at the same time have the common sense not to dedicate resources to guys that clearly are not interested in what it is we have to offer." ✦ 2 Scholarship quarterbacks signed in the same class — California's Tyler Buchner and local product/legacy Ron Powlus III — for the first time since head coach Brian Kelly's initial group inked three in 2010. That group in February 2010 included current offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, Andrew Hendrix and Luke Massa. In 2014, Montgomery VanGorder joined as a walk-on with DeShone Kizer, and VanGorder was later placed on scholarship. 3 Notre Dame recruits who have won the high school version of the Dick Butkus Award, which was first presented in 2008. Tennessee native and Notre Dame signee Prince Kollie was the most recent this year, winning it over the other four finalists: Chief Borders (Florida), Barrett Carter (Clemson), Chaz Chambliss (Georgia) and Deontae Lawson (Alabama). The other two Notre Dame alumni to win it in high school were Manti Te'o (2008) and Jaylon Smith (2012) — and both also earned the Butkus Award in college. 6 Recruits in this year's class whose fathers suited up in the NFL, including current associate athletics director for football Ron Powlus, who was the No. 3 quarterback in 2000 at Philadelphia behind Donovan McNabb and Koy Detmer. The others are: • 13-year and two-time Pro Bowl standout offensive tackle John Alt (son Joe) • Nine-year defensive lineman Marc Spindler (Rocco) • Six-year defensive back Lorenzo Styles Sr. (Lorenzo Jr.) • Offensive lineman Aaron Johnson (Caleb) on a prac- tice squad • Defensive lineman Angel Rubio (Gabriel) 10 Ranking of the 27-man class by Rivals. That would be the highest since the No. 3 rating in 2013. Since 2014, the rankings by the outlet have been No. 11, No. 11, No. 13, No. 13, No. 11, No. 14 and No. 22 last year (mainly because of only 17 signed). 14 Players — Devin Aupiu, Ryan Barnes, Cane Berrong, Tyler Buchner, Mitchell Evans, Blake Fisher, Caleb Johnson, Ron Powlus III, Philip Riley, Gabe Rubio, Will Schweitzer, Rocco Spindler, Lorenzo Styles Jr. and Justin Walters — who enrolled early for the start of the spring semester on Feb. 3. That breaks the previous Notre Dame record of 10 from the 2019 class, and last year eight of the 17 enrolled early for what had been the previous highest percentage in a class (47.1), until this year's 51.9 percent. Since admitting the first three early enrollees in 2006, Notre Dame raised its grand total to 84. 15 States represented among the 27 players signed, from Rhode Island defensive lineman JASON ONYE to Hawaii linebacker Kahanu Kia — the fourth product signed from the Islands in the last five recruiting cycles. Multiple representation from one state is led by California with five. That is believed to be the most from the Golden State in one class at Notre Dame since 1983 when it signed four, led by quarterback Steve Beuerlein. Georgia remains a mainstay from recent years with four, while Indiana had three. Illinois, Ohio and Florida had two apiece. 330 Listed weight for five-star offensive line recruit Blake Fisher, who stands at 6-6. That is the highest listed weight for an incoming freshman at Notre Dame since Kelly's first year in 2010, when defensive lineman Louis Nix was 350. Recent guards Quenton Nelson, another five-star prospect in 2014, and Aaron Banks (2017), were listed at 325 when they arrived. 6,084 Yards of total offense accumulated by Tyler Buchner during his 2019 junior season as quarterback at The Bishop's School in La Jolla, Calif. That was the most in the country that season in high school, with 4,474 passing yards and 53 touchdowns, plus 1,610 rushing yards with 28 scores. As a senior Buchner transferred to Helix High in La Mesa, Calif., to face stronger competition, but football was canceled there last fall be- cause of COVID-19. 2021 Recruiting By The Numbers PHOTO BY PAUL DANESI