Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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four because Georgia has grown ex- ponentially," said Brandon Huffman, a national recruiting analyst for Scout. com. "I think they're closer to being with the big three than they are with the second-tier states." Other analysts agreed that Geor- gia has grown to become a state in which all schools hunting for national championships need to have a pres- ence. Notre Dame's agreement with the Atlantic Coast Conference will put them in the region more often, but 247Sports' recruiting director JC Shur- burtt said the Irish already have many healthy relationships in that crucial corner of the country. "People talk about the move to the ACC, but they had already been re- cruiting well in the ACC states," he said. "They recruit Florida and Geor- gia well, and the Carolinas well. Notre Dame has a great reputation in the South." Kelly and his staff hope that playing there more often during the next sev- eral years will strengthen those South- ern ties. Notre Dame isn't scheduled to play in the state of Georgia through 2016. The team's last game there was a season-opening win against Georgia Tech in 2006. The annual Shamrock Series could give the Irish an oppor- tunity to schedule in Atlanta in the relatively near future. Until then, play- ing in the neighborhood in northern Florida and the Carolinas should help keep the school relevant in the area. Kelly credited the team's recent trips to Texas and adding the Longhorns to upcoming schedules with helping to gain a stronger foothold in that crucial state for assistant Kerry Cooks, who recruits that area. "Kerry has had a great network down there for a period of time, and we've been digging hard down there. I can't tell you how many flights I've been in and out of there," Kelly said on National Signing Day. Cooks will try to bring some of that formula to Georgia. He and recruit- ing coordinator Tony Alford are both expected to spend time in the state during upcoming recruiting road trips. New defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder could also be a valuable weapon there. VanGorder coached in Georgia for 10 years during his three-decade ca- reer. He spent four seasons as a de- fensive coordinator for the Bulldogs, one season as a head coach at Georgia Southern and four more years as a de- fensive coach for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL. "As far as the recruiting goes, I think that the résumé and the experience was a great asset for me to talk to guys," he said at VanGorder's intro- ductoy press conference. "They know that they're going to get NFL terminol- ogy and language and a system of the NFL. And you know, I found that to be extremely positive." Notre Dame has yet to make a sig- nificant splash in the state for its 2015 class, but has offered scholarships to several of the area's most sought-after players, including the country's top- ranked all-purpose back, Taj Griffin (No. 25 overall), the No. 5-ranked of- fensive tackle, Chuma Edoga (No. 95 overall), and the No. 12-rated weakside defensive end, Austin Bryant (No. 159 overall). ✦