Damn do I hate recruiting. But despite my hatred of all things recruiting, I lurked every chat, message board, and water cooler related to ND football for the last 24 hours in order to provide you with the most information packed analysis of the 2007 recruiting season that you'll ever see. But then I realized it's just not worth it. Maybe I'm just too exhausted now. So I give you this mindless drivel instead.
Ok, so maybe things didn't go quite to plan.
If you didn't have an account with a recruiting source, then you may not have been a bit forwarned of some of the "excitement" that ultimately lead to some "disappointment" with National LOI day for ND. "The Littles," a.k.a., Chis and Greg both decided to select "other" rather than ND for their education. It might surprise and disappoint some of you, but considering Greg is the kid that had a press conference to announce that he hadn't made up his mind, and Chris is the kid who's list of schools he's verbally committed to in the last year actually rivals the list of those to which he has not committed, you really can't be shocked. Also, both Chris and Greg have essentially vacated spots on ND's roster where the depth is already quite good. Love is fickle, and the love of 17 and 18 year olds is even, uh, fickler. There's no telling what made these kids decide to attend school elsewhere. Good luck to them.
Happily, those who have chosen to attend ND are both brilliant, astonishingly gifted, and handsome. Men will want to be them, and women will want to be with them. I was going to break down every new recruit, but UND tells you all you need to know.
I'm extraordinarily excited about this class. It's filled with all-world arms, game-breaking speed, touches of the much-longed-for nastiness, and the always underrated "smarts." Passing against Notre Dame will soon seem like a losing proposition. Meanwhile trying to stop ND from running, passing, or whatever the hell else they want to do on offense will be damn near impossible. But perhaps what excites me the most is that in this bizarre recruiting year where it was apparently cool to commit to one school and then quietly check out other options, this class is filled with 18 guys who, through it all, stood up and said that they want to be part of something special at the highest profile program in the country under the guidance of one of the most demanding coaches in sports. Charlie's got his guys.
Charlie's also made a few things abundantly clear in his latest press conference.
- Things will change in recruiting. No more "silent verbals," at least not in their previous manifestation. "If you're looking, we're looking." Meaning, if you don't make it abundantly clear to other programs that you're committed to ND, then ND is going to treat you and your roster spot as uncommitted as well.
- The defensive side of the ball is now going to target "types" of players rather than just "good players." This wasn't obvious to me except in hindsight, but it seems that the former regime of defensive coordinator didn't focus enough on what he wanted to do, and so he didn't know who he wanted.
- Yeah, the Irish are running a "3-4" next year, but only insofar as the type of player on the field is concerned. Whether or not they choose to actually run a base 3-4 or a 4-3 or, heck, even a 5-2 is up to them. This is exciting because it speaks to a mentality of using the defense to dictate things to the offense and not the other way around.
- There's going to be a big competition for the #1 QB spot this spring, and both Clausen (not deactivated due to injury) and Sharpley will figure in that competition quite strongly.
- Charlie wont say it, but he's pissed. Pissed is good.
One more thought on all this "flipping" of commits: It seems clear that it's no longer just nice to be recruited by ND. It's the world's best insurance card for would-be college football players. Kids like Kerry Neal get offers from ND, and suddenly everyone wants them. Meanwhile, people who lack the integrity of Kerry Neal might get an offer from ND and accept that offer, only to lay claim to it just in case the other options don't work out. It's one thing for a recruit to be open to a school about accepting other suitors, but it's another when they don't at least communicate their thoughts to a program. It's either lying outright or lying by omission. Look for Charlie to no longer supply opportunities for such behavior.
