Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome that the highly coveted Auburn, Calif., prospect would not be part of the Fighting Irish program. Instead, Vanderdoes began summer classes at in-state UCLA June 24. Although Notre Dame allowed him to transfer to the Bruins, the program did not honor his request to nullify the National Letter of Intent. Had Notre Dame done so, Vanderdoes would have been eligible to play this season. Instead, NCAA guidelines state he is ineligible to participate this year and will have four years of eligibility to complete three. Kelly said he made that decision to protect the integrity of the National Letter of Intent system and avoid setting a precedent that could allow players to flip-flop from National Signing Day right into the summer, which would then render the letter of intent virtually irrelevant. Critics of Kelly, most notably Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com, blasted him as hypocritical for not letting a student-athlete out of his contract while Kelly was able to leave the 12-0 Cincinnati Bearcats in December 2009 to take the Notre Dame job. The Fighting Irish head coach had a rebuttal. "I paid a million dollars in a buyout," Kelly responded. "You can break the contract, and he has. He broke the contract and he's going to another school — but there has to be a level of accountability there. "I remember the first time I got an apartment, I had to put a deposit down. I found another apartment I liked better and I didn't get my deposit back. I'm using that as analogy only in the sense that if you sign a binding letter like the [National Letter of Intent] you should be held to it." In a statement (via text message) sent to Sacramento Bee reporter Joe Davidson, Vanderdoes thanked Notre Dame for allowing him to stay in California, where he will be closer to his family. The late addition this February of the country's top-ranked defensive tackle was a major reason why the Fighting Irish had a consen- sus top-four recruiting class. Vanderdoes originally verbally committed to play for USC before choosing the Irish on National Signing Day. Months later, in a statement released to Davidson, Vanderdoes decided he didn't want to leave the West Coast because of what he said were family reasons — although the player and his family never gave specifics on his changed plans. His departure is considered a blow to Notre Dame's defensive line for two reasons. First, Vanderdoes possessed the future "star power" to succeed current senior nose guard Louis Nix III and junior defensive end Stephon Tuitt, both of whom are projected as first-round picks in 2014. Second, minus Vanderdoes, the Irish have reeled in only two defensive linemen each of the last two recruiting cycles: Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones in 2012, and Jacob Matuska and Isaac Rochell in 2013. That limits the margin of error that always factors into the recruiting game.