Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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66 MARCH 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY LOU SOMOGYI AND BRYAN DRISKELL Y ear one of a new era with the early signing period received a thumbs up from the Notre Dame coaching staff. By signing 21 players during the three-day stretch (Dec. 20-22) of the NCAA's new recruiting calendar, the Fighting Irish coaches unanimously agreed it was beneficial and allowed them to concentrate much more on filling final needs in January and February, which they did with six more additions to the fold. "Our situation is a little bit unique because ultimately the guys that want Notre Dame know it and feel it, and that's why ours is a place that should do well in the early signing period," said Notre Dame recruit- ing coordinator Brian Polian, who also doubles as the special teams coordinator. "Twenty-one is a good number. "The last three weeks of recruiting at any school is about disinforma- tion and about other schools trying to confuse 17- and 18-year-old kids — and to know that you had the vast majority of your class locked up, it was good." Head coach Brian Kelly noted how multiple coaches from the Irish staff were able to visit one prospect at his home on the same day because they didn't have to be elsewhere to "baby- sit." "The ability for each one of these recruits to really get to know more of the staff is, I think, a great advan- tage," he said. "When you're recruit- ing about only eight players from the middle of December through Febru- ary [not including getting an early jump on 2019 prospects], you really can be on each one of those players individually. "That's what is required to finish the way we finished." However, because Notre Dame re- cruits nationally — it signed players from 15 different states this cycle — Polian said there is still more work involved than the average school. He can especially appreciate that because California, where the Irish signed three players (tied for the most from one state this year), is one of his territories. In California, high school playoffs often extend well into December. "The one thing that caught me off guard was geographically people move at a different pace in recruit- ing," Polian said. "I don't think there were many players out west that were in a hurry to sign in December. A lot of the West Coast kids took it all the way through February. "But what happened was a guy that in December who may have been focused on two or three places — on Jan. 12 another 10 schools that had not been recruiting him at all, all of a sudden step up and offer. "People's boards started to take shape and names came off and you said, 'Okay, we didn't get this guy, where are we going next?' … All of a sudden people were recruiting outside of their normal geographic footprints … Penn State offering in mid-January to guys in California was a little bit odd." NEW DEBATE: WHEN TO VISIT? Although this year marked the first go-round of the early signing period, a crucial element will be added to the now 2019 recruiting cycle. In 2018 the "old rules" of official visits still applied in that a prospect could start taking official visits only after his first day of classes his senior year of high school. For the 2019 recruiting cycle, a The Irish inked 21 players during the December early signing period, which allowed recruiting coordina- tor Brian Polian and the staff to focus on a few players in January and February. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN The New Early Signing Period Benefits The Irish