Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/723105
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 12, 2016 7 UNDER THE DOME "The next step for us when we met as a staff was finding something that was free and easier for kids to get," said Elston, who noted that he, like a lot of the recruits, didn't have Show- time. "Otherwise, why do it? That's why we think Bleacher Report is a great partnership for us. "Not that Showtime wasn't, but for recruiting purposes Bleacher Report is going to be a slam dunk for us." Notre Dame freshman Daelin Hayes and 2017 four-star running back commit C.J. Holmes both com- mitted to Notre Dame via Bleacher Report videos. The NCAA has also ruled that coaches can utilize social media in the recruiting process, and Elston said Notre Dame has a plan in place. "Our edge is being forward think- ing and setting the standard for how we are going to do social media," Elston said. "You can retweet and 'like,' so do you want to be a team that waters it down and likes everything, or do you want to be one that is selec- tive on deciding what to like? "We have a plan for that, and I think we are implementing it really well. Social media is a huge part of what we are doing, because that is where these 17- to 18-year-olds are. "There is a level of care for them, but there's also a level of care for us," Elston added. "There are certain things that we aren't going to put back out there and retweet. It's a little give and take. It's a trial period." Of course, not everything in recruit- ing is done on social media or through Bleacher Report. Elston said that he and the rest of the recruiting office staff are constantly coming up with new ways to attract prospects. "Ideas come from experience and from other people," Elston said. "You track what other people do. A lot of it is copycat, and you put your own little twist on it. We get a lot of great ideas from students on our campus that work in our office. "There are no dumb ideas. We lis- ten to it and either move on, or at- tach ourselves to it and do something with it." Elston added that he feels, with the staff he has in place, Notre Dame has a chance to bring in top recruiting classes for years to come. "We have so many things we are thinking of, and we've got [social me- dia brand manager] Laura Thomas. Our whole recruiting office is doing a fantastic job," Elston said. "We have broken recruiting into two areas: evaluations and the acquir- ing of the talent. It starts with Dave Peloquin, who is in charge of all the evaluations and has done a great job. That has been a real key to our success of getting on guys early. "On the other end of it, Aaryn Kearney within our recruiting of- fice is fantastic. He is a superstar. He runs that office for us with all the students, interns and people like [coordinator of on-campus recruit- ing] Jasmine Johnson, Laura Thomas and Grant Apgar, who is doing all of our graphic design. We have all the pieces in place to compete with anyone in the country." ✦ Holy Cross Village is a continuing care retirement community, sponsored by the Brothers of Holy Cross, with a tradition of caring, compassion and trust. Holy Cross Village welcomes people of all faiths. 54515 State Rd., 933 North, Notre Dame, IN 46556 www.holycrossvillage.com ... AND ENJOY THE GAME OF LIFE AT HOLY CROSS VILLAGE I magine making new friends and developing new talents, where everything you need to enjoy the game of life is right outside your front door. Nestled among three institutions of higher learning, Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame is a senior living community unlike anything else around. Our warm and inviting community offers: Independent Living Homes and Apartments Assisted Living Apartments Skilled Nursing Memory Care Rehabilitation Services Call (574) 251-2235 today for more information and to schedule a tour. "THERE ARE NO DUMB IDEAS. WE LISTEN TO IT AND EITHER MOVE ON, OR ATTACH OURSELVES TO IT AND DO SOMETHING WITH IT." ELSTON