Seriously folks. Just think about this a moment. Reflect back on the linemen, on both sides of the ball that have been coming to Notre Dame recently, and who are committing every day. This is a WILD swing, in a wildly positive direction for the Irish. AND HALLE-FREAKING-LUJAH!
There was a time, not too long ago, that Notre Dame couldn’t recruit the big guys anymore, most especially on the defensive side of the ball. This happened during Ty and was reinforced during Chaz. Yeah, the OL was decently talented but under-developed, and there wasn’t a coordinated focus on the trenches, and more often than not ND was whiffing on the top guys.
But B to the K came in with a plan to build the team from the inside out, and it is FREAKING WORKING. To wit, let’s take a look at the last O-line and D-line to take the field for Chaz, and compare that to what ND is projecting for next season:
CHAZ’S OLINE
Matt Romine 4-Star, #12 OG
Eric Olsen 4-Star, #49 OL
Dan Wenger 4-Star, #20 OL
Trevor Robinson 4-Star, #6 OG
Sam Young 5-Star, #2 OL
BK’S OLINE
Zack Martin 3-Star, #24 OT
Christian Lombard 4-Star, #2 OG
Nick Martin 3-Star, #39 OT
Chris Watt 5-Star, #1 OG
Connor Hanratty 3-Star, #31 OT
And the D…
CHAZ’S D-LINE
Morrice Richardson 3-Star, #64 DE
Ian Williams 3-Star, #36 DT
Ethan Johnson 5-Star, #4 DE
BK’S D-LINE
Sheldon Day 5-Star, #6 DT
Louis Nix 4-Star, #9 DT
Stephon Tuitt 5-Star, #10 DE
Without a doubt, there’s been a talent upgrade along the Defensive Line. And this isn’t even getting into the much improved depth at virtually every position. Add on top of this some amazing player development under The Diaco and this is really something to appreciate in the BK era. Big guys that can play. It’s a thing of beauty! The LB recruiting is equally impressive, which is icing on this big guy cake.
Along the OL, the strides taken in talent are harder to see, as the recruiting fruits haven’t quite come to bear (yet). While position rankings are similar, it’s a slightly lower-rated crew based on stars. But coaching and player development is there, and if you take the incoming frosh + the current class being assembled, ND is adding EIGHT 4-Stars + One 3-Star, with all fitting the profile that BK and crew look for in the big guys up front. So this is more of a work in progress, but it’s getting there.
ND is back on track to being a perennial powerhouse, and it’s starting in the trenches. And it is WORKING!
Go Irish, KILL EVERYBODY!
ps – Sorry for being MIA for a while. Hoping to be back more regularly!
Don't take me, yourself, or life so seriously. This is supposed to be fun.
Biscuit co-founded HerLoyalSons in partnership with his ND roommate (Dillon Hall baby!), MQ, in 2006 and has been ranting about ND Football and everything Notre Dame since. He strongly believes in the mission of ND and its football program. Biscuit expects logic and data in arguments and will absolutely crush you if you come to a debate missing one or the other. He despises everything Michigan, and his favorite pastime is mocking Purdue.
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- No Respect! - December 14, 2018
And it looks like Vanderdoes isn’t even going to make it to campus….crap.
Seems to me that this post points more to BK’s development of plyers rather than recruitment. While recruitment has certainly picked up, the lines above don’t glaringly say that BK was a better recruiter – in fact the O-line listed looks better for CW, especially considering that the one 5-star listed for BK, Watt, is a CW recruit.
That said, for recruiting, there are a few huge BK recruits not showing up here – Matt James, Aaron Lynch, and the entire lists from the last two years.