Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY ANDREW IVINS N otre Dame head coach Brian Kelly isn't afraid to admit that the national recruiting landscape has changed over the years. When he first arrived in South Bend in 2010, the Irish would often wait to offer prospects and watch them develop their senior years before pushing for a commit- ment. That's not the case anymore. Notre Dame's 2017 recruiting class is off to its fastest start ever under Kelly with five verbal commitments a month into the new year, and the seventh- year head coach says that's a product of the Irish trying to keep up with the times. "It's an accelerated recruiting pro- cess," Kelly said Nov. 10, just a week after Norcross (Ga.) High four-star de- fensive end Robert Beal gave a pledge to play for Notre Dame. "Right now, we're in a very good place in our re- cruiting office. We restructured our recruiting office about 15 months ago, and in that restructuring we had some personnel changes. "Those changes over the last eight months have taken hold and have al- lowed us to really gain traction." But "traction" might be an under- statement. Beal –– Rivals' No. 8 player in the Peach State, and No. 2 weakside de- fensive end and No. 51 overall pros- Irish Off To Fast Start With 2017 Class Cedar Hill (Texas) High three-star Avery Davis, Rivals' No. 11 dual-threat quarterback in the country, picked up an offer from Notre Dame in October. PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS