FOOTBALL RECRUITING
BY ANDREW IVINS
M
ike Elston knew that he was go-
ing to have to endure some lumps
when he took over as Notre Dame's
recruiting coordinator back in late Feb-
ruary, but seven months into his tenure
he didn't think things would be going
this well for the Irish.
Notre Dame currently holds commit-
ments from 14 prospects in the class of
2016. Given the circumstances, Elston
thinks that's more than just an impres-
sive start to the cycle.
"To be where we're at right now with
the 2016 class is pretty remarkable con-
sidering that we lost half of the staff,"
Elston said at Notre Dame's media day
Aug. 18. "When we took over in Febru-
ary the challenge for us was that we
lost four full-time coaches, and the re-
lationships that they had built with all
these prospects just evaporated.
"Playing catch up has been the big-
gest challenge, and the only way to
really do that is to try to accelerate
Irish Recover Well From
Staff Changes
Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) three-star athlete Devin Studstill remains the top target on the board for Notre
Dame at safety this cycle. He was on campus for the Irish Invasion back in June.
PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS
