Good morning! Here is an in-depth look at the stories being written about Notre Dame football in the last 24 hours.
RECRUITING
- Ohio State has offered a scholarship to four-star sophomore RB Kyshaun Bryan. The Florida teenager has also drawn interest from Notre Dame. (Scout – Free)
- Noah DeHond, a three-star offensive tackle who has received interest from Notre Dame, is planning a series of visits to Big Ten schools (Scout – $)
- Devin Duvernay, a WR who has an offer from Notre Dame, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds and received an invite to The Opening, the nation’s top event for high school football athletes. Duvernay will choose his 10 favorite schools this summer. (Scout – Free)
- Steven Frank, the top QB in Illinois, has drawn interest from Notre Dame. He recently picked up offers from three schools. (Scout – $)
- Mecole Hardman, who holds an offer from Notre Dame, is listed as a cornerback but would love to play whatever position he’d like. Tennessee and Georgia are leaders. (Scout – Free)
- Scout has bestowed a five-star rating on Darnay Holmes, a 2017 cornerback/WR, and Joseph Lewis, a 2017 WR, who both hold offers from Notre Dame. (Scout – Free)
- The South is loaded with great talent at defensive tackle, including Dexter Lawrence. Lawrence holds an offer from Notre Dame and has interest or offers from 21 other schools. (Scout – Free)
- Jared Mayden, who has an offer from Notre Dame, has announced a top 3: Ohio State, Oregon and TCU, plus a video interview. (Scout – Free)
- A.J. Musolino, a 2017 QB prospect from Ohio, has drawn interest from Notre Dame. No visited planned yet. (Scout – Free)
- Auston Robertson, a defensive end from Indiana who holds and offer from Notre Dame, picked up a offer from Alabama. (Scout – $).
- Notre Dame is currently hosting Curtis Robinson, an outside linebacker and 247Sports’ 78th best prospect, this week. (Irish247 – $)
- A.J. Taylor left Notre Dame without an offer from the school, but the four-star athlete considered his visit a success anyway. (Irish Illustrated – $)
- Notre Dame has shown interest in CB Keith Taylor, but there’s no offer yet. Taylor is now a four-star talent, according to Scout (Scout – Free)
- Bleacher Report has pegged Notre Dame’s odds of landing Lokeni Toailoa‘s commitment at 4-to-1. Toailoa is the nation’s top inside linebacker. (Bleacher Report)
- Jaquan Yulee has an offer from Notre Dame, but is visiting up to seven other schools not in South Bend. The nation’s top middle linebacker’s April 18 visit to Alabama will be his second. (Scout – Free)
JUNIOR DAY – SATURDAY
- Irish Turning Point provides a Junior Day primer.
- Austin Mack has visited Notre Dame several times, but Junior Day may be his last trip before the four-star WR announces his commitment in June. (Irish Illustrated – $)
- Four-star WR Ahmir Mitchell has Notre Dame among his top 6 schools. He is Scout’s 49th best player in the Class of 2016 (Scout – $)
- Tylin Oden, a three-star QB who now has eight scholarship offers, is eager to visit Notre Dame. (Scout – $)
- Amby Thomas, a potential cornerback/receiver from Detroit, will make his second trip to Notre Dame with Donnie Corley for its Junior Day. Thomas, who holds four offers, is a 2017 prospect. (Irish Sports Daily)
CURRENT TEAM
- Jac Collinsworth shares his impressions of the first day of practice, with focus on Everett Golson, Mike Sanford, Max Redfield and Todd Lyght (WatchND – 1:32)
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- Drue Tranquill is progressing well from his nasty knee injury suffered last fall, to the point where the coaching staff is holding him back from what he’d like to do. (News-Sentinel)
- Here’s the depth chart, as it looks in spring. (NDInsider)
- You’ll notice some guys, like Nick Martin and C.J. Prosise, have switched positions – or added them. (Goshen News)
- UHND has picked Greg Bryant, Corey Robinson and Everett Golson as the three Notre Dame players who need to “step up” in the spring.
- Keith Arnold says spring practice talk will be dominated by the “Everett Golson vs. Malik Zaire show.” (Inside the Irish)
- LB Jaylon Smith discusses the first spring practice (Irish 247 – 2:51)
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- Nick Martin discusses his return to the center position (Irish 247 – 1:40)
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- Zack Martin and Chris Watt, two Irish alums now playing in the NFL, didn’t hold back when offering advice to Zack’s younger brother, Nick. (NDInsider)
- WR C.J. Prosise talks about cross-training at running back (Irish 247 – 2:29)
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- WR Corey Robinson discusses the importance of experience (Irish247 – 3:00)
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- Robinson’s “focus has shifted from learning big-picture concepts to perfecting the finer details of playing wide receiver.” (CSN Sportsnet Chicago)
- Robinson and Martin say they don’t care if Everett Golson or Malik Zaire is under center. They trusts both quarterbacks. (Irish247)
- Issac Rochell talks about his new position coach, Keith Gilmore (Irish Illustrated – 3:14)
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- “I kind of like the middle just because – I’m not going to say there’s less responsibility – but you can’t mess up as much,” Rochell told reporters. (Blue & Gold Illustrated)
- Max Redfield‘s 2014 season included two great games…and then an unexplained benching. (Irish Illustrated)
- While it appears KeiVarae Russell is removing the obstacles preventing him from rejoining the Irish team, the same can’t be said for Ishaq Williams. (Inside the Irish)
COACHING
- Jeff Quinn, a longtime associate of Brian Kelly, was long rumored to be joining the staff. But when the four new position coaches were announced, Quinn wasn’t mentioned. Now he’s shown up on staff, but on a off-field role. (Inside the Irish)
- Pyrce Tracy, who was an intern last year, is now a full-time special teams analyst. (Blue & Gold Illustrated)
- Quinn‘s hiring is good news for the taxpayers of New York state. Why? SUNY Buffalo owes him less money now that he’s found a job. (Buffalo News)
- Kelly recapped the first spring practice of the year, touching on Quinn‘s appointment, as well as C.J. Prosise‘s new role and Cole Luke‘s emergence as a great talent. (Irish247 – 3:27)
- Has Kelly‘s ability as a coach plateaued? Or is he like three other Notre Dame coaches – Bobby Clark, Mike Brey and Muffett McGraw – who pushed past their previous peaks? (Blue & Gold Illustrated)
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MISC.
- Jack Swarbrick has a vision of the NCAA splitting into two seperate associations with decidedly different visions about the amateur status of athletes. This is an interesting thought experiment. (CBS Sports)
- Eric Hansen hosts a chat about Notre Dame football while the men’s basketball game is ongoing. It’s about as well attended as you might expect. (NDInsider)
- Matt Hegarty is visiting Florida State as he considers a transfer for an opportunity to play one more year of football. (CBS Sports)
- The SEC has decided to consider Notre Dame, BYU and Army as Power 5 opponents to satisfy the conference’s scheduling requirements. While Notre Dame and BYU seem like obvious choices, Army has struggled as a football program for more than a decade. (CBS Sports)
- Currently the only SEC team scheduled to play Notre Dame is Georgia. (ESPN)
- The SEC and the ACC are the only conferences which require their schools to schedule at least one non-conference Power 5 opponent each year. (Orlando Sentinel)
- The ACC does not recognize Army as a Power 5 opponent for scheduling purposes. (College Football Talk)
- Should the Oregon Ducks schedule Notre Dame? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Duck Territory)
- Bob Davie has opened his spring practice for the first time at New Mexico. He had kept them closed as a coach since his time at Notre Dame, when a fight broke out between two players. (New Mexico Daily Lobo)
- D.J. Durkin, who was a graduate assistant on a Notre Dame coaching staff that included Greg Mattison, is now Mattison’s boss at Michigan. (The Detroit News)
- Mike Collins, the public address announcer at Notre Dame for the past 33 years, is now the PA announcer at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ spring training stadium. (Bradenton Herald)
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