Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/638727
FOOTBALL RECRUITING or uncomfortable with, but turned out very well." The meek might inherit the earth … but they usually won't get the coveted football recruit. "There's no area that we're not afraid to get into and afraid to take a shot at in this recruiting process. We want to make sure that we're high- lighting who we are and our distinc- tions, and using all platforms from Instagram to Twitter," Kelly said. "… That has really been the impetus in terms of us moving quicker and getting into areas that maybe we were slower in touching in the recruiting process." THE THINK TANK During the restructuring of the recruiting process last winter and spring, under Mike Elston, several ad- ditions were implanted. Nebraska's Aaryn Kearney was hired as the coor- dinator of recruiting operations, with 2013 Notre Dame graduate Jasmine Johnson as his assistant. This allowed 13th-year employee Dave Peloquin, the director of player personnel, to concentrate more on his duties. "Dave needed to be focused on an area instead of doing everything," Elston said. "He's going to be with Coach [Brian] Kelly and manage the 85-man roster. He's going to assist the coaches in identifying and evaluat- ing who to talk to. And he will be in charge of the admissions info." A "think tank" was also formed with approximately 30 Notre Dame students working regularly in the of- fice to formulate ideas to better sell the brand and bring the Fighting Irish into the 21st century with Instagram, Twitter and other avenues of commu- nication. TWO PREFERRED WALK‑ONS ADDED The NCAA permits 85 scholarship players to be on a Football Bowl Sub- division team, but 20 other walk-ons, preferred or otherwise, help form even better practice sessions. In addition to the 23 scholarship athletes signed Feb. 3, Notre Dame included in its bios that day 6-3, 310-pound offensive lineman Logan Plantz, the brother of 2011-13 walk-on running back Tyler Plantz and the son of 1982-85 Irish offensive lineman Ron Plantz. The Frankfort, Ill., native played at Providence Catholic High — same as Irish freshman wide receiver Miles Boykin — and spent the fall of 2014 at East Coast Prep before transferring to nearby Holy Cross, and now Notre Dame. He was a 2013 Chicago Tribune All-Illinois second-team selection. Meanwhile, Atlanta Pace Academy 5-11, 175-pound athlete Mick Assaf also plans to walk on. Although he had walk-on spots at Vanderbilt and MIT, his brothers went to Notre Dame. Originally, Chattanooga (Tenn.) Bay- lor School two-star linebacker Ryan Parker was committed to Notre Dame as a walk-on, but passed on a spot to play at Army. Newport Beach (Calif.) Corona Del Mar quarterback Peter Bush — the brother of Irish sophomore walk-on of- fensive lineman Sam Bush — camped