Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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with a game to prepare for each week, but in the spring, Lynch spoke with Kelly and decided he wasn't going to find his niche with the Irish. His departure midway through spring practice set off alarms and fired up rumor mills that more elite players in Notre Dame's locker rooms would follow Lynch home. Lynch's partner on the defensive line, and a fellow Sunshine State im- port, Louis Nix told his 5,000-plus Twitter followers that he was board- ing a plane and might never return the weekend after Lynch left. Nix was at practice the following morn- ing, but he admitted that there are plenty of times when he thinks about going back to his comfort zone in Jacksonville, Fla. "It's hard because Florida is all I year. Early enrollee Tee Shepard left South Bend for reasons still unclear after little more than a month on campus. His cousin, wide receiver Deontay Greenberry, backed out of his pledge to the Irish on National Signing Day in favor of Houston. Nix said he "should be" around in September, but was far from making a guarantee. The list of defections calls into ness and raw athleticism he put on display in that same game a year ago are impossible to replace, the Irish are in a better position to absorb a blow along the defensive line than anywhere else on the field. Fifth-year senior Kapron Lewis- Moore stepped into Lynch's starting spot, a place that Lewis-Moore had occupied for the three previous sea- sons before a right knee injury ended "THE CHALLENGES ARE GREAT HERE. IF YOUR HEAD AND HEART IS NOT IN IT YOU JUST CAN'T BE SUCCESSFUL HERE." HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY ON NOTRE DAME know. I never left until I started get- ting recruited," he said. "You don't want to go a lot of places; you just want to stay where you were. That's how it was for me. It kind of both- ered me some because I was scared getting on a plane for the first time, experiencing the cold for the first time. It's a lot to take in, but I think I handled it." Notre Dame has struggled to hold on to five-star talent in the past question Notre Dame's ability to compete with warm-weather, less stringent environments in the re- cruiting game. Kelly insisted they don't sugarcoat the future obstacles on the recruiting trail. "We're laying our cards on the table," he said. "People know that we're not walking around selling a different Notre Dame. We're selling who we are, what we're about. We'll be consistent with that." On April 21, while Lynch's former his season in late October last year. He has played in 32 games and has 140 tackles in his Notre Dame career, second only to Te'o on the team's current roster. Sophomores Stephon Tuitt and Chase Hounshell will help fill the gap, as will early enrollee Sheldon Day — Indiana's runner-up for Gatorade Player of the Year. As Te'o said, Notre Dame is not teammates were playing the annual Blue-Gold Game he was touring the Tampa campus of his new school (South Florida). While the explosive- Home, Sweet Home Transfers are an inevitable part of college football, oftentimes because of homesickness or a better opportunity for playing time. What is unusual is when a transfer occurs after a player made a positive impact on the field, a la Aaron Lynch. The main such comparison we can make with Lynch in Notre Dame history is outside linebacker Arnold Ale in 1989. As a freshman for the 1988 national champs, Ale started four games at drop linebacker, including the victories over No. 1 Miami (31-30) and No. 2 USC (27-10), and he was credited with a key sack — along with Frank Stams — in the national title win over West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. He recorded 23 tack- les for the year and also made a key late interception in a 30-20 victory at Pitt. Yet that following spring, despite all the team and individual success, he transferred back to his home area of Los Angeles (UCLA) because he said he felt "alienated" at Notre Dame as a Samoan. He ended up playing two seasons in the NFL (1994 and 1996). The 28-man Notre Dame recruiting class from 2006 lost only eight total from the last five recruiting classes (2007-11). In each case, they all went back to a hometown or home state school: 2007: Linebacker Aaron Nagel (Northwestern) — In most of those cases, they all went back to their respective home states. After losing eight alone from that 2006 haul to transfers, the Irish have to his native California after disagreeing with an Office of Residence Life decision to suspend him. He was the Bruins' second-leading receiver last year with 39 catches (12.3 yards per catch) and six touchdowns. 2009: Wide receiver Shaquelle Evans (UCLA), de- He moved to a blocking fullback position for the Wildcats. 2008: Tight end Joseph Fauria (UCLA) — Returned for everyone. Lynch will likely go on to be a force wherever he lines up in 2013 and beyond. The rest of the Irish defensive front will remain one of this team's strengths in 2012 and try to press on with both head and heart. ✦ had an inordinate amount of transfers, including both quarterbacks, Demetrius Jones and Zach Frazer, who would be the starter for UConn when it upset the Irish in 2009. Others included running back Munir Prince (Mis- souri), tight ends Konrad Reuland (Stanford) and Will Yeatman (Maryland), offensive lineman Matt Carufel (Minnesota), wide receiver Richard Jackson (Central Florida) and safety Jashaad Gaines (Texas Southern). www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Wide receiver Shaquelle Evans left Notre Dame in 2009 and landed at UCLA. He was one of three players to transfer that season to a school from his home state. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS fensive back E.J. Banks (Pitt) and offensive lineman Alex Bullard (Tennessee) — All three returned home. In Bullard's case, his father passed away and he wanted to be nearer to his family. Evans nabbed 19 passes last year at UCLA (two for scores) that aver- aged 16.3 yards. 2010: Cornerback Spencer Boyd (South Florida) and a score as a tight end last year. 2011: Aaron Lynch (South Florida). and safety Derek Roback (Ohio U.) — Boyd, an early enrollee, reportedly wanted to be nearer to his son, while Roback wanted a chance to play quarterback — but caught six passes for 56 yards — Lou Somogyi MAY 2012 19