Coach Brian Kelly wanted the focus to be on the 16 players who signed, rather than the one (5-star WR Deontay Greenberry) who didn't. "I used to have a saying about players like that and that was I'd rather play against him for four games than with him for four years," he told UND.com.

If you follow the link, you will see that this isn't an excerpt from an article, the above is the whole post. While I understand that the author of this "Rapid Report", Mark Bradford, was simply attempting to provide the equivalent of an audio soundbite, this comment was not only taken horribly out of context, but the quote itself wasn't Kelly's complete sentence; in fact, the so called quote didn't even come out of Kelly's mouth as it was written by Mr.Bradford.

I had been inquiring on where I could find this interview as it was missing on UND.com's overview on there excellent signing day coverage. Thankfully, it was just a simple oversight, so now I have the interview in it's entirety to back my comments up.

To provide this context, here is the complete context of this so-called "shot" that occurs around the 1:40 mark:

Jack Nolan: And you've already discovered this and I've learned over thirty years: if you come here you have to want to be here. If you don't want to be all-in here, it's not going to work. So better off to find out on February 1st than November 15th.

Brian Kelly: Yeah because it's just going to take too much time and effort. You know, kid comes here and it's really not the right fit. You know, those aren't going to be good times with a player. You know, I used to have a saying when we were recruiting regionally, you know, on a kid and we were making a decision: I'd rather play against him four times than have to have him with us four years if he's not the right kind of fit. So, again, let's think about the sixteen guys that understood Notre Dame and what we're about and let's talk about them as it relates to this class.

Kelly was responding to a question and gave a generic anecdote based on his previous recruiting experience, not taking a shot at Greenberry. In fact, throughout the beginning of that interview, Kelly made it clear he had no issue with Greenberry. When asked directly about him, Kelly had this to say immediately before the quoted text above:

Kelly: And talking about those sixteen, it's important that we don't lose focus on their day and the exciting day that they had. The one that did not, obviously, when you talk about Notre Dame, those weren't the right things for him. And that's fine, we have no problem with it. We want the right kind of guys. And, you know, Notre Dame, has great and unique distinctions and those have to be seen as being important in your life. And so the sixteen guys that chose us saw how important those things are in their life at Notre Dame and that's why it's an exciting day for us.

Kelly again repeated his mantra of wanting the RKGs at Notre Dame, completely consistent with his comments on recruiting since he's been here. He made it clear that he harbored no ill-will at all towards Greenberry.

Now, we can be free to debate on whether or not Kelly needs to be more aware of the microscope he is under as head coach of Notre Dame. Everyone is always hungry from a soundbite from our coach and it isn't just Notre Dame fans that are ready to consume it--this partial quote went viral just minutes after it was posted.

Attempting to paint a picture of an angry Kelly taking a shot at a recruit is hardly genuine and CBSSports.com took his words completely out of context. I'm sure they have no problem with it though, as such sensationalist fiction will surely rack up far more hits than this post containing the truth will.

As I said before in my Gunner Kiel post, my golden rule of following recruiting is that until a recruit actually enrolls early or faxes in his signed letter of intent, anything can and will happen. Today, the anything was a surprise defection from Deontay Greenberry to Houston of all places. Greenberry, a five star WR (or four star depending on which recruiting rankings you follow), made his eleventh hour decision despite telling the Irish staff that he was still in the fold on Tuesday night.

It wasn't just the Irish staff that was in for a shock either. His own cousin, Tee Shepard was informed of the change of plans this morning after Greenberry called his father, Ray Shepard:

Greenberry called Ray Shepard, father of early enrollee Tee Shepard, on Wednesday morning to break the news of the flip. Greenberry and Shepard are cousins and it was assumed the pair would play together in college throughout the process. Greenberry called Notre Dame earlier this week to assure the staff he’d sign with the Irish.

“He sent his paperwork in to Houston,” Ray Shepard said. “I don’t get that one at all. I don't know what happened on that one.”

Ray Shepard said Greenberry and Tee Shepard spoke before the Houston flip, with the cornerback telling his cousin to follow his heart in his decision, even if that didn’t mean Notre Dame.

Even stranger in this story was that it appears that Greenberry nor his family had any direct contact with head Coach Brian Kelly. At his press conference this afternoon, Kelly said that he found out the news from Greenberry's high school coach and that was it.

Greenberry's last-minute decision is yet another disappointing decommit from the Irish. Cornerback Ronald Darby (Rivals 4 star/Scout 5 star) remained out of the Irish fold and signed with Florida State today. For a recruiting class whose primary focus was to stock up on skill players, losing two elite players with said skill-set, one of which was meant to retool a weak defensive backfield, is highly disappointing. Further frustrating for many is that only 16 scholarships will be used in this class as well.

However, those looking for some kind of silver lining can still find some in this class. Despite the losses mentioned above and small scholarship number, the surprise addition of Gunner Kiel, helped propel this class to remain on of the top-25 in the nation (Rivals 21/Scout 18). The average star rating for our 16 recruits is rather stout as well (Rivals 3.5 [ranked 11]/Scout 3.69 [ranked 7]). Plenty of skill players will be making their new home under the Dome as well with 9 of the 16 players falling under that description.

Although not included in any class ranking, the addition of RB Amir Carlisle should be mentioned as well. The Southern Cal transfer was an Irish target last season and adds additional depth to the two RBs coming in with the 2012 class.

So just how successful was this class? It depends on how you wish to look at it.

On one hand, this class could have been an absolutely stellar top-5 class had our targets stayed in the fold. Not to mention said players would have filled voids at positions that required immediate impacts.

On the other, the Irish did accomplish their goal of adding in the needed bodies in skill positions. For a team returning 8 starters on offense and 7 on defense, that doesn't exactly leave for much immediate playing time on the field. With that in mind, a quick glace at the depth start can easily create several theories of players moving between RB and WR or even CB.

And perhaps that is the biggest failing and disappointment of this class. This could easily go either way.

Kelly could very well shuffle his roster around, fifth-years can make a breakthrough impact and a high percentage of these recruits hit to form a solid roster. On the flipside, said moves could disappoint and not make the impact Kelly hoped for, much like Theo Riddick to WR. If that were to happen, and recruits from this class do not make their projected impacts, we could see the reality of a shaky foundation in the future.

In comparison, Kelly's 2010 class, one with a focus on the trenches and power positions, made an immediate impact and left very little doubt as to its success even before the first snap of the season. The play by freshmen like Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt removed any doubt as to its success as well.

2012 will already be a pivotal season for Kelly and his future plans for the Notre Dame program, but now I feel the pressure has turned up a notch or two. Kelly has already stated that his goal for the class of 2013 is to land those big-time impact players that ("Big Skill" players as he called them) that can make an impact at multiple positions in his spread offense. In order to get those players, he will need to deliver on the field as he transitions from building his program to running it. These are his guys now, and it is time to see what he will do with them.

With all that being said, congrats to the 17 new members of the Notre Dame football team and the Notre Dame family. Enjoy your new home under the Dome.

EDIT (6:14pm EST): Of course, after I publish this, more "anything" is happening: Davonte Neal is back in play.

As a reaction to my post the other day, and a few LTE's in the Observer supporting my stance....And after the project's leadership dismissed the idea because (i am paraphrasing here) 'sales went down from '02 to '04 when we stuck with shades of green' (and nevermind that the team went from 10 to 5 to 6 wins and Ty got canned during that same time period - let's blame it all on the color) in THEIR letter to the editor, I have decided that it's time to take a stand here. So, we're launching an all-out, grassroots campaign to UNITE ND STADIUM under a single, consistent color, year in and year out.

This is about doing what's best for ND Football, and recognizing that all the great benefits of The Shirt 1) Will not go away with a single color and 2) Are owed to the success of the Football Team in the first place

So, I've created a petition HERE.

Step 1: GO SIGN IT! That's done by CLICKING HERE.

Step 2: Forward the link to EVERY ND FAN YOU KNOW. Facebook it, Tweet it (#FixTheShirt is the hashtag), Email it, whatever. Just get the word out.

Step 3: EMAIL theshirt@nd.edu and let them know you've signed and that you want a single color for The Shirt. Forever.

Step 4: Spread the word some more. C'mon, it's quick - just shoot off that email, tweet, whatever. Please?

It's time to fix this thing folks. It's time to welcome opposing teams with unity and fire when they walk into ND Stadium. Help us out!

Don't miss your opportunity to remember this day forever. Purchase your shirt, cherish it forever, and be sure to make your children wear it 20 years from now!

But it's about time that The Shirt also serve a purpose for the football team: uniting the fans in a single color to show opposing teams that they are, indeed, playing an away game. AT NOTRE DAME STADIUM.

I rant on this once a year, and I guess it's that time again. The Shirt changes colors every year for some god-forsaken reason. To sell more. To be 'creative'. Whatever, none of them are good reasons. Because, in addition to being socially conscious and raising money for some important student funds, The Shirt should, ultimately, UNITE THE FAN BASE. It should be a way to get all fans on the same page in terms of home garb colors. Too often ND Stadium looks like a bunch of people wandered in off the street and decided to sit down.

Blue (X 30 Hues)
Gold (X 30 Hues)
Green(X 30 Hues)
Away Team Colors
Random Colors of Peoples' Jackets

Notre Dame's crowd is the Skittles of CFB.

TASTE THE FREAKING RAINBOW PEOPLE!

All of these are mixed and matched and there is absolutely no coherence to the stadium, outside of the student section. Why? Well, because not everybody will buy this year's The Shirt. And the crowd has been trained that there is no particular color that is preferred. So we end up with this mess.

Remember Nebraska? Aside from all the ND fans selling out and selling their tix to Nebraska fans, this game taught us one thing: a unified color in the stands can make a difference. That game FELT like an away game for Notre Dame, in our own beloved stadium. So do you think that having a random mish-mash of colors in the stadium doesn't have an impact? Oh it does. And it's time to fix it.

It's time to declare a home game color of choice. One color, for the entire season, for every season, forever. Fans can, of course, choose to wear something different. But maybe this will get a majority on board, and it will start a trend of displaying unity in the stadium.

This can and should start with The Shirt. First, pick a color. One color. Kelly Green. Navy Blue. Whatever, just pick one and stick with it. Permanently. This will, over time, become the 'game day color' for Notre Dame. And yeah, some folks will wear something else, and some will wear one shade of green instead of another, but the unity will be apparent. And it will be clear to visiting teams that they are at Notre - Freaking - Dame.

Yes, I understand that The Shirt has many missions. But without success on the field, it will in the long run mean very little. And while the impact may be small, every little bit helps. It's time to do that little bit and get everyone on the same page.

It's time for The Shirt to do Job #1: Support the Team.

Let's get to it, folks.

Last year, the Irish faithful that dared to strap into this rollercoaster were taken for a ride by Aaron Lynch. For those that do not remember, before finally committing to Notre Dame, he committed to Notre Dame (and, no, that isn't a typo). In between those two commitments, he decommitted from the Irish and then committed to Florida State, only flop right back into the Irish fold just days before enrolling early at Notre Dame.

It seems that yet again, the Irish will be coming out on top of some blue chip drama right before early enrollment.

Today, LSU had a meeting for all early enrollees, but there was a major problem: the top quarterback recruit in the nation, Gunner Kiel, was reportedly nowhere to be found. Reports then started to surface that Kiel had indeed decided, quite literally at the last minute, that he would instead be heading to South Bend to join the 2012 recruiting class of Notre Dame. With no comments from the family, day turned to night and just hours ago, it has been confirmed that Kiel will be the newest member of the Fighting Irish. The entire one-day saga makes you completely forget that this summer Kiel initially committed to Indiana only to open his recruitment back up again during the season.

Like I said, anything can and will happen.

So why did Kiel change his mind at the eleventh hour? Who knows? Having Russell Shepard publicly voice his displeasure with LSU via Twitter probably didn't help. The circulation of now debunked rumors of a "heated argument" before the BCS title game may have been a factor, even if it never happened. Perhaps he had second thoughts about putting his quarterbacking future in Les Miles' hands after seeing Jordan Jefferson in action. Apparently, his mom may have been a huge factor as well. Or maybe Brian Kelly did some kind of crazy last minute pitch that just wowed him.

Overall though, as usual, this is a teenager making the biggest decision of his young life and clearly this kid was conflicted throughout the entire process. I'm sure he has a myriad of reasons as to why, some of which will never become public.

The bottom line is that Notre Dame's recruiting class just got a huge boost (and it could potentially get another one). When the top quarterback in the nation decides to call your team home, you don't say no, especially when you had what can only politely be called "issues" this past season at said position.

Even if you believe Notre Dame will have either Golson, Hendrix, or even Rees rise into greatness, you still want someone like Kiel in your recruiting class. Injuries happen (see: Dayne Crist), one of your expected 5-star studs turns out to be not as great as you thought they would be (see: Dayne Crist...again...) or your starting QB decides to leave early (see: Jimmy Clausen). Much like recruiting, anything can and will happen.

To see what I mean, just take a look at the years of eligibility left for each QB entering 2012:

• Rees - 2
• Hendrix - 3 (redshirt used)
• Golson -4 (redshirt used)
• Kiel - 4 (with potential to redshirt)

You may notice that ND entered the 2011 with nearly the exact same situation. Put Crist at the top of that list, bump everyone else down a spot and the years are the same (save for the fact that Rees didn't redshirt). This flexibility allowed Brian Kelly to redshirt Everett Golson without hesitation. Of course, nothing went exactly to plan. Crist faltered, Rees had a sophomore slump and Hendrix didn't exactly light the world on fire despite being redshirted for a year.

Despite the QB failures of 2011, Kelly is again in a situation in which he has the luxury of being able to redshirt a stud QB in Kiel, making him the third straight QB to get the benefit of a redshirt. Compare that to Quinn, Clausen, and Rees who were thrust into the starting QB role as true freshmen, a situation best avoided; however, the Irish haven't exactly had the luxury of being able to do otherwise.

In the past decade, the only signal callers that were not thrown to the wolves as true freshmen were Dayne Crist, Demetrius Jones, and Carlyle Holiday--not exactly a top tier list of QBs. Throwing in such young QBs doesn't help for any sort of offensive continuity either. Your starting QB is seemingly always playing catchup and adjusting to the speed of the college game, forcing the playbook to become much smaller. As examples, look no further than Quinn and Clausen as it took them both two years of frustration before things "clicked" during their junior years.

So, yes, the Kiel commitment is very huge for Brian Kelly and the Irish for both next year and years down the road, regardless of where your opinion on the current stable of QBs happens to be.

UPDATE: Notre Dame has made it official, Gunner Kiel is Irish. Check out the full press release and breathe easy.

"While Coach Kelly and I are focused on the additional work that must be done to reach our goals, I am very pleased with the progress we have made during the past two years." University of Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said. "Our football team's performance on the field, in the classroom, and in the community reflect Coach Kelly's commitment to building a program that will be able to sustain success in the long run, and to doing so in a manner consistent with Notre Dame's values and tradition."

Has Kelly earned it? That is certainly more than debatable, especially after a season that fell well below expectations. While we can definitely point to some upsides like our defensive front seven and our recruiting, watching the Notre Dame offense struggle and cough up the ball all season long doesn't exactly inspire such contract extension confidence.

Does it help recruiting? Again, this is rather debatable. It definitely helps that Kelly can walk into a recruit's house and say that he is in for their entire career. Then again, recruits these days are likely more than wise to the fact that the coaching carousel spins at an insane pace every season, especially considering that EA's popular NCAA series now mimics it.

Does it really give Kelly more job security? Not at all, just ask Charlie Weis how much his 10 year extension guaranteed his position. While there is no doubt that this extension will increase any potential buyout, if ND wants to fire Kelly, he will be fired and they will have no problem doing so.

With all that in mind, I give this news an overwhelming "meh" as far as how I personally feel.  While I personally still support Kelly, I'm not exactly jumping for joy over this extension nor do I think it means that Swarbrick thinks that Kelly is on the verge of being the next Lou Holtz.

If anything, this is just an attempt to show a unified front that Notre Dame is on the same page for the next four years. Whether or not that unified front will remain 100% genuine for the next four years though remains to be seen.

If you missed it, here are the bottom 5 of our top 10.

5: My Guys

After Notre Dame managed to look like their all-new "Home Field Advantage" had intimidated the hell out of them when Soutern Cal came to town, just about everyone remotely associated with Notre Dame Football was pretty well good and sick of one another. The fans were at one another's virtual throats on message boards near and far. We've heard there were at least 2 rather heated discussions among the coaching staff (and trust me, that's no longer an issue). And of course, during Brian Kelly's live radio show at a local South Bend establishment, leading up to the Navy game, Coach Kelly tried to answer a question about the the dynamic between the younger guys on the team and the more senior guys. And in spite of, or, perhaps because of, whatever effort Kelly did or did not make to tread lightly, he hurt some feelings.

And those poor little hurt feelings made sure to express themselves. Publicly. On Twitter.

Ultimately, if you really read what Kelly said (or hear it) within its context, it's not nearly as bad as many would believe. But if you only read about it from particular beat writers who work in Chicago, you probably got the impression that Kelly would sooner watch some of the older guys on the team take up vaudeville than keep them around.

Nevertheless, some poor little hurt feelings had to express themselves. Publicly. On Twitter.

And so by the time the pep rally for the Navy game rolled around, fans and media alike were wondering if Kelly could hold this team together, and apparently Kelly had to have a team meeting at some point, during which at some point poor little hurt feelings were salved.

Thank God for those poor little hurt feelings.

4: Decisions, Good and Bad

No matter Mike Floyd's decision to come back to Notre Dame for one more year (a great one), he made an incredibly stupid decision to get behind the wheel of a car after consuming alcohol on March 20th. Suddenly a lot of optimism about the ND Football program's chances in 2011 and Mike Floyd's long-term outlook were thrown for a loop. It cost Floyd practice time, as he was indefinitely suspended from the program and lost all of spring ball. Which, naturally, cost the entire team. It placed Kelly in the unenviable position of having to walk a fine line between publicly dealing with the mess in an appropriate matter that would keep both alums and critics from looking for their pitch forks. It meant Floyd had to spend the off-season going through a legal process and a process put in place by Coach Kelly. It meant the loss of a captaincy for Floyd. And, really, who knows what all of this distraction may have cost the team as a whole in the 2011 campaign?

But Kelly kept angry folks from becoming enraged. And Floyd managed to satisfy both the legal system, the Notre Dame disciplinary system, and Kelly well enough to return to the team in time for the start of the football season. As a result, with a 154 yard, 2 TD performance in the opener against USF, Floyd collected the title for most receptions in a single career at Notre Dame. Later, he'd set records for career receiving yards, 100 yard games, and most receptions in a single season by a Notre Dame player. And by the time Notre Dame met Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl, Floyd once again gained the title of captain.

3: Even Disney World Needs a Fresh Coat of Paint?

It was hinted at multiple times in the off-season by Kelly, Jack Swarbrick, and even some members of the equipment management team. But by the time the first night game at Notre Dame in decades rolled around (against USC), some body of people had created a plan to, if not revolutionize the "Note Dame Experience," certainly pushed that experience through several evolutionary steps at warp speed.

I'm pretty sure Darwin had some ideas of what happened when things evolved too quickly.

Certainly not everything was a failure. While the object of quite a few "clever" quips about their shine, the new standard for Notre Dame's helmets, created using something called a "Hydrographic printing process" rather than the old spray-paint, seem to be a resounding success among fans. And yes, they are mind-blowingly shiny.

But quite a few other steps seemed to (forgive me) hitch a ride on the Crazy Train and never get off. The piped-in music was met with disdain, by and large. The new player walk, while perfectly rational and sensible, set off quite a few alums who probably suffer from a mix of inability to be communicated to, and a lack of effort to properly communicate to them. The Addidas "designed" uniforms for the Maryland game set a new standard for "hype over form," as no apparent actual effort was put into "designing" a uniform that at least featured components that were coordinated with one another.

These attempts at freshening up the staid but popular "Notre Dame Experience" caused quite a tizzy, as more than a few, uh, "traditional" alums and fans saw the as steps toward more major "modernization" of the experience, like the installation of a Jumbotron or (gasp!) Field Turf. And while we couldn't be accused of being too traditional to see the arguments for either such upgrade to Notre Dame Stadium, we can certainly understand why a poorly coordinated effort towards modernization in 2011 did less to changes the hearts and minds of "traditionalists" and more to scare the high-waisted tartan pants off of them.

2: Crist Is Risen, Only To Be Sat Back Down

The old joke is supposed to be that the most popular player on any college football team is the backup quarterback. But most would agree that the joke is supposed to be about the popularity of that backup among fans of the team.

Although in retrospect, Rees' ascension into the starting spot over Crist was foretold by a lot of prophetic news items in the off-season. Sure, many felt that Kelly was simply paying lip-service to some ethereal notion of a "quarterback competition" as the season opener approached, but warning bells should have been ringing in every fans head when Kelly was apparently unable to pick a starting QB far in advance on when he finally did.

While Crist clearly possessed superior athletic ability to Rees, and also had that much beloved, though often poorly measured "it" about his personality, there were the small issues of Crist's tendency to injure knees or experience temporary blindness that probably counted against him. Worst still was his tendency to fail to manage the team before the snap - something Rees excels at, even if he does seem a bit confused after the snap. It's something Kelly clearly values. And if you read up on the writings of offensive and/or quarterbacking "gurus" you'll find it a common philosophy: The quarterback has no hope of executing the plays properly if they can't get the game pieces set up before they go in motion. Crist may have only gotten a few opportunities to show he could manage that aspect of the game in 2011, but he also showed he could do so very few times. And while his athletic ability may be superior to Rees', Kelly isn't the kind of coach who wants to depend on athletic ability to get his team out of jams caused by poor execution.

Understandably, many were and are frustrated with the output at the quarterback position at Notre Dame in 2011. While Rees may still have been able to set up the pieces of a play nicely, he never shook his tendency to turn the ball over at the worst possible times and/or in the red-zone. Perhaps that has something to do with Charley Molnar's departure to UMass. Perhaps not. I'm not one to speculate.

1: Take My Balls, Please

This will be hard for you to believe, but Notre Dame did not finish the season dead last in turnover margin. Somehow both SMU and East Carolina beat them to it. Still, Notre Dame commited an astounding 29 turnovers in 2011 while only managing to steal the ball away from the other guys 14 times. Consider for a moment that LSU only lost the ball 8 times to date, and Honeybadger and Co. stole the ball away 30 times. Major advantages in turnover margin wont make you a great team, but major disadvantages in this statistic will certainly hold you back. Rees was responsible for 14 interceptions alone (Crist with 1, Hendrix with 2).

An incredible 15 turnovers were committed by Notre Dame in September alone. And in their 5 losses, the Irish gave the other guy the ball 19 times and averaged a turnover margin of -2.6. A 2.6 Turnover deficit! Even though the Irish managed to steal the ball away a little more than 1 time per loss! Just astounding. Had the passing game, alone, managed to just cut the interceptions in losses by half (11 were committed), in all likelihood the Irish would be spending the first week of 2012 in a BCS bowl. But instead, Irish fans sit and watch the teams like Virginia Tech and Michigan in slap-fights upon BCS logos. In probably the first time in 10 seasons, had the Irish reached the BCS, they'd have likely not run into what is arguably the best team at that time. In other words, it's the most winnable set of non-Championship Game BCS contests in a long time, and Notre Dame missed it because of turnovers.

Clearly irked, Kelly made mention of the tendency of Notre Dame to cough up the ball, particularly by the quarterbacks, after just such sins cost the Irish the Champs Sports Bowl against Florida State. And interestingly - and I think tellingly - he placed responsibility for that bad habit on the coaches, mentioning that their's nothing wrong with how the players compete, but the coaches need to get better in order to see an elimination of the habit. Given the recent moves in shaking up the coaching staff, we expect the top story of 2011 to be the top theme in the spring of 2012.