Just as the word ‘icon’ is overused and improperly used, so, too, is the word ‘iconic’. It seems everything today is described as ‘iconic’ – party songs, adventure films, sports stars. Yet none of these things demands contemplation, or touches the soul the way a real icon does.

However, you young men and women who will graduate from this University in little more than a day, have lived among icons for the last four years. A golden statue, a candle-lit cave, a log chapel. These are deeply religious sights to behold; but they are just a fraction of the icons that you have seen.

Close your eyes, and think of the images that you will never forget. The first time you met your best friend; the first time you met the love of your life. The first professor in the first class you walked into; the last professor with whom you shook hands after the last class of your collegiate career. Your rector – both when happy, and when angry. They first victory you celebrated in the Stadium, either in the stands or on the field; and soon, the final victory you will celebrate in the Stadium: your graduation. These are images imprinted on your memory that you can contemplate for the rest of your lives, and will never cease to touch your souls. They are your own, very personal icons.

But the greatest, most classical icon at Notre Dame is the one that looms largest over the campus – the Lord as teacher, with his arms raised in prayer and celebration. And as he has beheld everything that has gone on, everything that you have gone through for the last four years, he has never blinked. He has seen the good and the bad, and he has never ceased to teach, pray, and celebrate through both. Take that image with you as you leave Notre Dame, and let it instruct you in your lives with family; in your work with colleagues; in your joys and your despairs.

Christ as Teacher is not only an icon, it is also a mosaic. One image made up of 6,700 pieces of granite. When you look at it, you can view the whole, or you can concentrate on just one small part. Soon you will be handed a single sheet called a Diploma. But consider how many pieces went into it over the past four years: how many people, how many classes, how many competitions, how many celebrations, how many victories, how much beauty, how much truth, how much life, sweetness, and hope. You take all of that with you into your future. Let each of those experiences – and the whole experience put together – be a source of contemplation. Let it all touch your soul, for then Notre Dame will truly have made a difference in your lives, and Notre Dame will truly be in your hearts forever.

In that way, Notre Dame itself is an icon comprised of so many pieces over so many years. As you walk out of the Stadium with your diplomas, look at Jesus as he looks at you. He will not avert his gaze. He will not blink. But as you leave this iconic place, Notre Dame will blink – Notre Dame will blink back a tear…a tear of joy…for you.

EFS CSC

Padre’s book Father Sorin Says: The Founder Comments on Today’s Notre Dame is available from the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore and Amazon. Included are his farewell addresses to previous graduating classes.

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Credit: Rivals.com

Most likely to be a first round draft pick

Tommy Kraemer

Kraemer is the crown jewel of the 2016 class, and I acknowledge it may seem cliché to project the highest ranked recruit of the class to be a first round draft pick. However, it’s simply too difficult to bet against a Top 100 recruit, high school senior who is already 309 lbs., stands 6 feet 5 1/2 inches tall, and will be mentored by a coach who has demonstrated a distinct ability to put offensive linemen in “The League.”

One doesn’t need to look much further than my previous piece, where I gush about Kraemer, to see that I am more than bullish on the Cincinnati, Ohio product. It would not be a surprise to see Kraemer potentially push for a spot within the 2-deep on the offensive line this year. But considering the depth at the position is in very good shape, he may be best fit to redshirt and take the year to learn, grow and mature.  This path proved beneficial for Quenton Nelson (who was also a Top 100 recruit) who started at guard last year and used his redshirt year to grow to a massive 325 lbs. Big Tommy projects to be a solid anchor in a future Irish offensive line while also possibly projecting to cash in on a handsome signing bonus around this time in four years.

Most likely to make an immediate impact

Devin Studstill

Scout.com photo

Studstill is a rangy safety from Palm Gardens, Florida.  Standing 6 feet 1 inch and weighing 190 lbs., he’s appeared to have already added 10 lbs. since being on campus as an early enrollee (graduating high school in December to enroll at Notre Dame for spring term, thus affording him the ability to participate in spring football).

During his short time with the team, Studstill has already made positive impressions on the coaching staff – Brian Kelly included. Kelly highlights that he has already established an understanding of the defense, while physically proving he belongs at the collegiate level. The news about understanding the defense may raise a few eyebrows within the Irish faithful, as fans have seen a defensive backfield (safeties especially) that has struggled with assignments and suffered blown coverages over the past two years. Studstill’s physical gifts are likely not surprising any of the coaches, because he was widely regarded as the top prospect at safety on the Irish’s recruiting big board. Though only a three star recruit, the coaches agreed that the athletic Floridian was a priority, and Kelly’s comments, along with significant first team reps in spring ball, would suggest that they evaluated him accurately. Studstill benefits from playing a current position of need at safety. The graduation of Elijah Shumate coupled with the uncertainty and unproven safeties on the roster produce an exciting opportunity for him to step in and contribute during his freshman year. I find it possible, yet unlikely, that we see Studstill starting at safety across from Texas come September, but I do firmly believe that he will be consistently rotating his way into the game giving him the best chance to make an immediate impact within the 2016 recruiting class.

Most likely to switch positions

Chase Claypool

Claypool is an interesting wide receiver from Abbotsford, British Columbia (Canada). He stands at an intriguing 6 feet 5 inches, weighs 205 lbs. and was a four star recruit.

Claypool dominated throughout high school, albeit against lesser competition than traditional football talent hotbeds like Florida and Texas. As stated, Claypool was recruited as a wide receiver, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Irish decide to kick the tires on Claypool potentially contributing on the other side of the ball. It wouldn’t be the first time that a highly regarded offensive recruit flipped from offense to defense – Jerry Tillery did it last year from offensive tackle to defensive tackle, and James Onwualu made the transition from wide receiver to starting linebacker a few years ago.

Claypool’s size and raw athletic ability could potentially translate into a much needed rush end, or possibly linebacker.  If you still aren’t sold on this kid’s athleticism, don’t take my word for it. Instead take Brian Kelly and the coaching staff’s opinion during a neat exchange on a phone call where Kelly asks Claypool how his basketball game went the previous night. I’ll save you the suspense – he dropped 51 points in the specific game Kelly asked about, and averaged over 40 points per game throughout the season. In the highly unlikely chance that Claypool doesn’t find himself on either side of the ball, Mike Brey and the (back to back Elite Eight) Irish hoops squad might see if he’s interested in balling out in Purcell Pavilion. With his Canadian roots, potentially uncapped athleticism, and overall physical stature, Claypool is the most fascinating recruit of the 2016 class.

Photo by Jared Purcell / MLive.com

Most likely to ruin a color commentator’s day

Adetokunbo Ogundeji

Say that five times fast – or once slowly if you can. Ogundeji is also most likely to join current Irish sophomore wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown on the “All-Name Team.”

“Ade” is a defensive end that comes to South Bend from Walled Lake, Michigan and stands 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 225 lbs. After initially committing to Western Michigan, Ade was all Irish less than a month after Notre Dame offered him a scholarship. He even visited campus at least five times (per 247sports) before signing his letter of intent.

Raw, raw… (WWE) RAW! Ade was a three star recruit that will benefit significantly from a redshirt freshman year. Similar to Chase Claypool, Ade lacks no athleticism.  He will also benefit greatly under the fine tutorship of defensive line coach Keith Gilmore.  Consider him putty to be finely molded and tuned into a fine contributor after a year or two of development. Additionally, consider him to truly test the phonetical skills of many color commentators.

Most likely to steal the opponent’s lunch money

Parker Boudreaux

Parker Boudreaux (Photo: CNN)

Boudreaux found himself with over 60 scholarship offers throughout the recruiting process. It seems almost every school in the country wanted this offensive lineman from Orlando, Florida who stands 6 feet 4 inches and weighs 287 lbs.

“P-Money,” as he is so eloquently known on Twitter (with over 56 thousand followers mind you), brings a nasty, in your face attitude to South Bend. One glimpse at a few of his high school highlights and one doesn’t hesitate to see how this attitude translates into countless pancakes on the football field. Make no mistake; P-Money is a brawler through and through. But as offensive line coach Harry Hiestand explains, he is also a technically sound football player. With the offensive line depth currently in solid shape, expect Boudreaux to spend his freshman year hitting the weights hard and hitting training table (meal time) equally as hard. Oh, did I mention that he pulled a school bus to announce his commitment to Notre Dame…?

Most likely to be unfairly compared to a previous Notre Dame Football player

Ian Book

Book is a three star quarterback from El Dorado Hills, California. He stands 6 feet 1 inch and weighs 200 lbs. Book was previously a Washington State commit until he took an unofficial visit to Notre Dame and the ultimate lure of Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach (Prince) Mike Sanford was too tempting to resist.

Book decommitted from Washington State and committed to the Irish three days following his first visit to South Bend. Some who follow the Irish have already made the comparison of Book to former #NDFB quarterback Tommy Rees. Whatever your personal opinion was on Rees, I urge you to indefinitely postpone drawing this comparison. One peek at Book’s high school stats shows that the West Coast kid can really spin it, while illustrating the ability to be a threat with his legs.

During his senior campaign, Book completed over 70% of his passes, threw for over 3,000 yards, 30 touchdowns, and only threw 5 interceptions. As stated, Book can also tuck the rock and be a threat on the ground. He ran for 779 yards (6 yards per rush) while accounting for 12 touchdowns on the ground during his senior year.

Again, regardless of your feelings about Tommy Rees, we can all agree that he was essentially a nonthreat in the ground game (with the exception of the sneakiest, most methodical quarterback draw of all time against Michigan – ha ha ha…). Book is a heady quarterback that fits the current offensive system, unlike Rees who had multiple limitations.  With this being said, BOOK = REES; please don’t let anyone try to tell you that they are similar players.

This concludes the 2016 Recruiting Class Superlatives. Overall, the coaches succeeded in addressing many of the team’s needs with this class. Dare we say that this class is…wait for it…most likely to bring #NDFB a National Championship? I’m certainly not going to make that bold of a prediction just yet, but hey, we all have dreams right?

Cheers and Go Irish!

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Jonathan Jones (Photo courtesy of Student Sports)

anyone who followed this class would’ve have said that before Signing Day. But given that Caleb Kelly committed to Oklahoma – despite the Irish pushing hard until the end – and Ben Davis signing with Alabama, Jones “saved” the class, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

Daelin Hayes, a 247sports composite four-star OLB and early enrollee, is certainly the player with higher expectations but it’s not yet clear what position he’ll end up at. So it’s Jones who will give the Irish depth at a position group that has lots of uncertainty heading into spring practice. Joe Schmidt and Jaylon Smith were the top two tacklers on the team. Te’Von Coney is recovering from injury. And Nyles Morgan – the only five-star linebacker on the roster – hasn’t been heard from in quite some time.

Jones, who was recruited primarily by Autry Denson, played at Oak Ridge High in Orlando. He appeared in The Opening, and is a 247sports composite .8745 rated player. For some context, Hayes is rated at .9371 and Caleb Kelly comes in at .9835.

Let’s be clear: Jones would be a developmental guy, probably heading towards a redshirt freshman season in more favorable roster scenarios. But where the linebacker group is with James Onwualu, Greer Martini, Morgan and Coney – and with Hayes’ injury history and position questions – Jones getting meaningful reps next season is a real possibility.  

Jamir Jones, the other linebacker in this class, could show up in spring practice and push Jonathan Jones on the depth chart, but most analysts have Jamir as longer term prospect, and there is some talk of moving him to defensive end, which is why he factors less in this discussion at this point.

So, Jonathan Jones is the guy who fills the gap in the depth chart. At least until Brian Kelly decides to convert a running back or safety.

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Name: D.J. Morgan
Position: Safety/Athlete
H/W: 6″3, 205lbs.

D.J. Morgan is yet another in a seemingly explicit lineup of tall-ass DBs and Safeties in this 2016 recruiting class. Morgan is from Bellflower, California where he went to St. John Bosco High School. Morgan considered offers from USC, Arizona State, Utah, Cal, and Northwestern before ultimately choosing Notre Dame. While

Morgan projects as a Safety, and when you consider the fact that Recruiting Coordinator Mike Elston teamed up with Defensive Coordinator Brian VanGorder himself to directly get this kid to South Bend, it is easy to speculate that Morgan’s skills may be the ideal fit for the BVG defense.

Morgan ranks as a 56th overall player from the state of California and the 29th overall Safety in the class.

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The most striking thing that jumps out about Vaughn (aside from his insane nose for the football and overall athleticism) is his size. At 6″3, Vaughn stands as the tallest DB recruit to sign with Notre Dame in the Brian Kelly era. With the speed and size of running backs and wideouts in modern college football, this level of athlete cannot be undervalued.

Vaughn projects as a safety, although Notre Dame recruiting coordinator Mike Elston and Todd Lyght both recruited him as a boundary corner, meant to match up against larger wideouts.

Vaughn ranks as the 7th overall player from the state of Tennessee and the 20th overall Safety in the class.

Really couldn't sleep . Kinda feel like Christmas back in the day???

— Donte' Vaughn (@_cavtion_) February 3, 2016

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Image Credit: scout.com

Javon McKinley, a 6’2″, 196 pound wide receiver from sunny Corona, California, shows that the Irish continue to pull top-level talent at the wide receiver position.

That McKinley checks all the boxes one looks for in a receiver is demonstrated in his offer sheet, which includes Arizona, Cal, Florida, the U, Ohio State, Stanford, Tennessee, USC, Washington, and Oregon.

Javon finished his junior year with a 4.167 grade point average, perhaps explaining the lack of interest from Alabama.

Javon is rated as the 11th best receiver in the country, the 59th best player in the nation and the 13th best in California.

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Image Credit: canadafootballchat.com

Chase Claypool, a 6’5″, 215 pound wide receiver from sunny Abbotsford, British Columbia, has sick moves that allow him to choose when he wants to get hit and, if he gets hit, whether or not he’s going down. He can also deliver a punishing hit on defense.

Claypool’s size and speed sparked a flood of offers, with schools as diverse as Oregon, Michigan, and Rice salivating over his potential. At one school, he’s a freakishly-large receiver. At another, he’s a defensive end. At Notre Dame, he could be a safety, when it’s all said and done.

He’s a four-star player, ranked 22nd overall at wide receiver and 109th in the country, despite his not being eligible to be President.

Chase was recruited by Mike Denbrock.

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Steve Johnston / Chicago Tribune Media Group

Julian Love didn’t need to think it over. As soon as the Nazareth Academy (La Grange Park, Ill.) senior got his scholarship offer in March, he committed to Coach Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish on the spot.

Love, standing 5-foot-11-inches and weighing 180 pounds, is a three-star cornerback according to Scout and 247Sports. He is a two-time state champion; a highlight of this season’s run was a 55-yard strip-and-score of St. Viator’s TE Cole Kmet, who is committed to the Irish’s Class of 2017.

Love is praised for his exceptional instincts, good footwork and ability to transition from backpedal to closing/tackle. The knock on him is that he’s built like a cornerback, but runs more like a safety (4.6 to 4.7 40 time is apparently not great for a corner). This past year, he recorded 50 tackles – two for a loss – 1 INT and one defensive touchdown and was named to the Blue-Grey All-American Bowl.

Love also played running back, receiver and on special teams for the Roadrunners, so he might be a good fit on the kickoff team.

Tim Racki, his high school coach, told Scout’s Beth Long:

“It’s like he turns into a superhero when he puts on the uniform. He’s like Clark Kent or Superman. And he does, he just looks in and when he plays football he knows how to lock in and just transform himself. … It’s almost like he’s already seen the play happen before it happened. He knows where the runner is going to go, he knows what the tackles are going to do and he just does the opposite and just makes the play.”

Love is a lifelong fan of Our Lady’s football team and is (or at least was, as of December) dating a St. Mary’s student. He held offers from Boston College, Iowa, Indiana and Northwestern, among others.

At cornerback, Cole Luke and Devin Butler have one year of eligibility left. Nick Watkins will have two and Nick Coleman will have three. Shaun Crawford, lost before the season to injury, and Ashton White were redshirted and will enter their sophomore seasons with four seasons of eligibility intact. KeiVarae Russell declared for the NFL Draft.

Bonus soundtrack!!!

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Ian is one of the best quarterbacks in Northern California and will become one of the first regional quarterbacks to attend Notre Dame. He will be providing depth to the Red Army which is much needed after what injuries did during the 2015 season.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Ian!

Click here for Ian’s Hudl Profile.

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Photo: 247sports.com

Christmas came early for the Notre Dame football coaching staff, as cornerback Troy Pride Jr. announced his commitment to the Irish on Dec. 24.

The 6-foot, 165-pound recruit was courted by in-state schools South Carolina and Clemson, but chose to come to South Bend, in part, because of…Brian Van Gorder.

“I like coach VanGorder’s exotic blitz packages that he uses, and I understand coach Lyght as a defensive backs coach,” Pride told ND Insider. “The technique that he preached to me when I went up for an official will be very influential to me furthering my game. It will make me a better football player.”

Pride is considered the top cornerback in South Carolina, eighth best in the south and 16th best at his position nationwide, according to Scout. He joined fellow cornerbacks Julian Love and Jalen Elliott in the Irish’s Class of 2016.

Irish Illustrated’s Tim Prister, in analyzing Pride, said he had “very good, if not great speed.”

What impresses scouts on the defensive side of the football is his smooth backpedal, the turn of the hips as the receiver makes his break, and then the ability to press the receiver to the sideline with his back side as he runs with the wideout stride-for-stride.

As for the cornerback position, KeiVarae Russell is off to the NFL. Cole Luke and Devin Butler have one year of eligibility remaining. Nick Watkins, who started the Fiesta Bowl because of injuries to Russell and Butler, will have two years left. Nick Coleman, a rising sophomore, played in 2015 and has three years left. Shaun Crawford and Ashton White will be redshirt freshmen. Crawford was expected to see time at nickel before tearing his ACL before the 2015 season began.

In addition to the Gamecocks and Tigers, Pride also had offers from Virginia Tech – where he was committed before Frank Beamer‘s retirement – Tennessee, North Carolina and North Carolina State.

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