So much for thinking that all the recruiting craziness was behind us.
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.â€
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.
- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
- HLS Podcast Finale - January 2, 2022
- The Final Fiesta: Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State NCAA ’14 Sim - December 31, 2021
tjak
I know these young men, have to do what is best for them, I truly understand that; I am however disappointed by the way Greenberry has handled this. I wish he could have been more honest with the coaches, it could have given the staff a chance to talk to him about his place at Notre Dame. Part of me thinks he was avoiding any chance the coaches he had already committed to, to have a say. Oh well I will be cheering even harder for Brown and Ferguson to be successful at Notre Dame.
VicPaul
Tough pill to swallow at this moment but onward and upward. Congrats to the 17 newbies that are fortunate enough to call Notre Dame home for the next 4-5 years. Go Irish!!!!!
The Biscuit
Davonte Neal could bump this class up a bit. C’mon big guy.
Sad Warrior
Greenberry has a flawed character and little or no moral depth. Good riddance.
NDtex
And you determined this how? A last minute decision by a teenager to change his mind?
Please. If Greenberry stayed in the Irish fold as planned, I guarantee you’d be signing his praises.
trey
To be fair, if he had stayed in the fold, he wouldnt have the “no moral depth” label either.
SH
I think Sad Warrior’s comments are a little over the top… personally I am not as angry about the decision as I am about how he went about it. Very disrespectful and I think it’s hard to wish him well with how he handled the situation. Manipulative in reassuring the Irish coaches he just wanted to take 5 visits to see the country then not even giving them the courtesy of a call to let them know he was switching his pledge.
Kelly Gruene
Recruits will follow victories. Perhaps if the Irish actually won home games that recruits attended, more recruits would end up at ND. Along with this thought, however, this recruiting class may turn out to be a blessing. Several great recruits fill the areas of greatest need. The number of recruits is not tremendous, but the talent of half of them is not in doubt. Time after time it has been shown that teams with the greatest numbers of fourth and fifth year players do the best. Now that this team will be able to retain more 5th year players, totally familiar with the system, grown in size, experience, and maturity, this coming football season may actually be surprisingly good (even with the difficult schedule). If we can win a couple games against, say Oklahoma and Michigan, recruits will absolutely notice. Then, and probably only then (with victories over quality opponents) will bigger numbers of highly regarded recruits actually commit (and stay committed) to Notre Dame.
waydomer
Yes I expect to see a significant improvement in our receiving corps with the familiarity with the system, growth, experience and maturity of Goodman and Walker. That certainly is a blessing over landing an unexperienced Greenberry.
Kelly Gruene
You are are a bit synical, my friend. TJ Jones and DaVaris Daniels are outstanding players. A good scheme, with players who actually don’t drop easy touchdowns (Floyd had a nasty habit of doing that), coupled with much improved quarterback play, will absolutely minimize the loss of Floyd. I’d love to resume this conversation 6 games deep into next season.
waydomer
We would have had TJ Jones (a rising junior) and Davarious Daniels (a red shirt freshman)without losing Greenberry. In addition, I disagree that TJ Jones is an outstanding player. He has been servicable at best and although there is promise in Daniels, he has yet to set foot on the field. Furthemore, your assertion was that having the 5th year players instead of Greenberry was a “blessing” because the experience was more important. On that we disagree. I’ll take the talent.
Kelly Gruene
Okay, maybe you all take things a bit too literally. Please note that my original post didn’t mention Greenbury at all. So, no, losing his commitment was not a “blessing”. Lighten up a bit. The points of the post really were (1)that this small recruiting class actually does have great talent in positions of great need, and (2) having 5th year players (some more talented than others but all with experience in this system) will work to ND’s advantage. This coach talks a big talk. Now, in my opinion, he has pieces to actually be successful this next year. Having older experienced players coupled with a large number of talented, complementary younger players (from the last two years recruiting) positions ND well. If this staff can optimize the players they have this year and win two games against quality opponents (pick ’em: Oklahoma, USC, Michigan) and go 7-2 against the rest of the schedule, ND will make a massive haul in recruiting for 2013. If not, maybe it’ll be time to begin looking for a new coach. Realistic win totals? Recent history says no. But I believe the current make-up of the team at least makes it possible. That’s just me, sheepishly blindingly optimistic. Sorry.
undnut
While I don’t think losing Greenberry is going to be the crushing blow some are predicting, calling his snubbing of the Irish a blessing is a bit silly. I think the staff would have gladly taken a green Greenberry over an “experienced” and “matured” John Goodman.
Mark G.
Recruits do follow victories, though whether the team won the particular game they attended seems to have little impact on their decisions. It is more about the atmosphere, the players and the coaches (and the babes working as athletic department “ambassadors” if you are at a SEC school). Moreover, they follow trends, and while we all think, or at leat hope, we can see improvements under Kelly from year 1 to year 2, that positive trend (whether it is real or in our heads) is not as obvious to the recruits.
The disappointment to me is not getting another cornerback or two, more so than missing out at WR. (Daniels will be coming on-line at WR, which brings good size, great speed and apparently very good skill.) At CB, however, we essentially have only Shepard coming in behind and to compete with Lo Wood and Bennett Jackson. Jackson has the speed and size but is relatively new to the position. Unless one of the many safeties we have on the roster can cover like a CB, which is a stretch, we simply have a hole in our otherwise very good defense. And with an offense that is likely to continue to be inconsistent unless and until one of the QBs breaks out and takes over, we will need a stout defense more than ever.
Here’s hoping that Kerry Cooks with help from Bob Elliott can coach up Wood, Jackson and Shepard, and those three stay healthy.
fightenmick2
Guys….Coaching has a lot to do with the development of a recruite..Say what you want ….But the coaches at Boise State do not get many if any 4 or 5 hotshots. they are very well coached into becoming one of the elite players in the arena of football, scoff all you want about SOS…but they hold their own regardless of the outcome…This year will be rebuilding year in my opinion, so I am not looking for an undefeated season, that would be dreaming on my part. But you can bet the farm they will be a good tough team for the 2012 season .
Jeremy
Don’t forget how much staff shakeups affect this. Our secondary coach is now our offensive coordinator, and we are bringing in a brand new coach from Iowa State. Seems to a solid coach, but that makes a big difference to these kids who have built a relationship with a guy only to find out the position coach you were excited to play for is no more. In the long run, I think the coaching changes will be beneficial, but this is part of the downside.
With WR’s, I wonder how much of the decision is based on inconsistent QB play to date and/or our new OC’s propensity for running more out of the spread. Being concerned about QB play as an incoming freshman with the talent we have on hand would seem a bit short-sighted, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that were a factor.
Overall though, winning a bowl game, or at least ending the season on an up note likely plays a big role in how recruits perceive the direction the program is heading. The FSU game didn’t instill a lot of confidence in me, and I would bet the difference in NSD feelings between last year and this year have a lot to do with the bowl game results, even if we played a coachless Miami and should have beaten a very solid FSU team that started the season in the top 5.