Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING pledge to the Irish. He was at Florida State Feb. 20 for the Seminoles' Junior Day and is expected to visit the other schools on his list of favorites before making another commitment. "I don't think Notre Dame is com- pletely out of it," Wommack said when asked where he thinks Beal will end up. "There's still a long way to go, and he does have some family up there." Beal's grandmother lives in the South Bend and previously worked in the cafeteria at Notre Dame, but the odds of him signing with the Irish after decommiting are not great. Since Kelly arrived at Notre Dame in 2010, just one prospect out of the 19 that decommitted from the Irish ended up coming back and signing with them. That player was Tuitt, who initially committed to the Irish, flipped to Georgia Tech and then flipped back to Notre Dame a week before National Signing Day. With Beal likely headed to another school, the Irish will have to look else- where for a top-flight defensive end. The coaches have already cast a wide web when it comes to the rush defen- sive end position. The top target on the board is Bra- denton (Fla.) IMG Academy five-star Josh Kaindoh. The Maryland native — who is ranked by Rivals as the No. 1 recruit in Florida, and the No. 1 weak- side defensive end and No. 4 over- all prospect in the country — doesn't have a set list of leaders, but he re- cently told Rivals that he would like to play football up north and wants to be a doctor one day. That notion that academics are first has the Irish trending up for the 6-5, 241-pound Kaindoh, along with Ohio State, Michigan, Maryland and Penn State, and is one of the reasons why Notre Dame defensive line coach Keith Gilmore was in Florida to see Kaindoh in late January. But Kaindoh wasn't the only prospect that the Irish assistant saw while he was in the area. Gilmore also passed through Tampa Hillsborough High to offer four-star defensive end Zachary Carter. The 6-4, 237-pound Carter –– who is ranked as the No. 2 strongside defensive end and No. 58 overall recruit in the country by Rivals –– has a top two of Florida and Clemson, but he told Blue & Gold Il- lustrated in early February that a Notre Dame visit is in the works. While both Kaindoh and Carter have expressed initial interest in Notre Dame, the Irish are still fighting an up- hill battle with both prospects. How- ever, that might not be the case when it comes to Redlands (Calif.) East Val- ley's Jaelan Phillips, who is listed at linebacker but projects as a defensive end at the next level. Phillips was offered by Notre Dame Feb. 3 and said that a visit to South Bend is imminent. "It's a school that people have al- ways told me that I need to check out," Phillips said. "I want to see what it's all about." The 6-5, 240-pound Phillips — who is listed by Rivals as the No. 22 player in California, and the No. 11 outside linebacker and No. 200 overall player nationally — is also considering Stan- ford, Alabama, UCLA and Washing- ton. ✦