Blue and Gold Illustrated

March 2014

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE B rian Kelly strayed far off the beaten path earlier this month when he introduced his 2014 recruiting class during National Signing Day. Status quo dictates a head football c o a c h a l w a y s begin his sign- i n g d a y s p i e l w i t h p h r a s e s like "improving depth" and "fill- ing needs" when outlining his re- cruiting haul. But Kelly deliv- ered a much more profound mes- sage during his presentation, one that went well beyond X's and O's and clearly highlighted his frustration af- ter losing three players from his junior class at the same time he was trying to build his freshman class. In the span of less than a week in January, running back George Atkin- son III, star defensive player Stephon Tuitt and tight end Troy Niklas, who could've been a future All-American, all set aside graduation plans and a final year of eligibility to leave Notre Dame and follow their NFL dreams. Early departures have been part of doing business at many of the top foot- ball programs around the country for years. But to Kelly, life is different at Notre Dame and leaving early showed a blatant disrespect for the university mission state- ment and under- mined everything a scholarship at Notre Dame rep- resents. In respon se, Kelly said he made certain late in the recruiting season that the high school play- ers he was court- ing understood that "student" c o m e s b e f o r e "athlete" as a Notre Dame stu- dent-athlete. "If they want to come here just to hang their hat to play football and go to the NFL, we passed on some pretty good players," Kelly explained. "I don't want guys to come here and not finish their degrees." Atkinson, Tuitt and Niklas became only the ninth, 10th and 11th players ever to leave Notre Dame after their junior seasons since the NFL Draft opened its doors to underclassmen in 1990. The Irish trio is also part of a re- Noble Message, Impossible Fight Head coach Brian Kelly spoke about recruiting players who will want to stay and earn a degree. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND

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