Blue and Gold Illustrated

March 2016

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

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2016 RECRUITING ISSUE BY BRYAN DRISKELL T he Irish played for the na‑ tional title after the 2012 sea‑ son, but were thoroughly dis‑ mantled by Alabama. Notre Dame got close again this season, finishing with a 10‑3 record while suffering two‑point losses to a pair of top‑five teams. The objective with the 2016 recruit‑ ing class was to help the program achieve its goal of winning a national title. Blue & Gold Illustrated graded the group of signees under the following criteria: A — Playoff Contention B — Top‑10 Viability C — Top 25‑Viability D — Trying To Be Bowl Eligible IMPACT TALENT Irish add quality players on both sides of the ball with 2016 class QUARTERBACK SIGNED: Ian Book MEETING NEEDS: After landing Malik Zaire, DeShone Kizer and Brandon Wimbush in consecutive years, the quarterback position was not the pri‑ ority it was in previous cycles. Notre Dame needed a quarterback in the class, but landing an elite player at the position was not as important. SUMMARY: Notre Dame targeted top‑ ranked signal‑callers early in the re‑ cruiting process, but Dwayne Haskins (Ohio State), Jacob Eason (Georgia), Shea Patterson (Ole Miss) and Matt Fink (USC) never gave the Irish seri‑ ous consideration. After passing on Malik Henry (Florida State), Notre Dame quickly moved onto Book, who quarterbacks coach Mike Sanford had a pre‑existing relationship with dating back to his tenure at Boise State.

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