Credit: Detroit Free Press

Brian Kelly and his staff have convinced 21 student-athletes with Michigan offers to commit to Notre Dame, while Jim Harbaugh and his group have persuaded the same number to forgo Notre Dame offers and come to Ann Arbor, according to Her Loyal Sons research.

Michigan and Notre Dame have historically battled for outstanding players in midwestern states, although the skirmish has also expanded to the East Coast and California in the past 20 years.

WOLVERINES GRAB HIGHER RATED TALENT

Michigan has swayed 3 five-stars with Notre Dame offers to join their team, while Notre Dame has landed zero. The Irish have grabbed 16 four-stars to Michigan’s 13, while the Wolverines have 1 more three-star than the Irish group.

Credit: Melanie Maxwell / MLive.com

The six best players, according to Scout’s recruiting rankings, have all headed north: defensive tackle Rashan Gary (#1 overall, class of 2016); wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones (#22, 2017); running back Kareem Walker (#28, 2016); offensive tackle Ben Bredeson (#36, 2016); cornerback David Long (#64, 2016) and tight end Devin Assisi (#67, 2016).

Bredeson made eight starts at left guard for the Wolverines last year and appeared in all of their games. He allowed five quarterback hurries, three hits and one sack in 256 pass blocking snaps, according to College Football Film Room. He was also given an honorable mention on the All-Big Ten team. Gary played in all of Michigan’s games as well, registering 26 tackles, nine tackles for loss, eight hurries, eight quarterback hits and just four missed tackles.

Asiasi played sparingly – being targeted just five times and catching 2 passes for 18 yards. Long appeared in four games, mostly on special teams. A quarterback never threw his way when he was in at cornerback, so he didn’t register any stats. Walker was a redshirt.

WHO HAS HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT SO FAR?

Credit: MICHAEL CATERINA / South Bend Tribune

Besides Bredeson’s and Gary’s notable freshman seasons, the Irish have two players who have made equal or greater impacts on their team so far.

Dexter Williams was the first to spurn the Wolverines in favor of the Irish after Harbaugh’s hiring in Ann Arbor on Dec. 30, 2014. The running back has registered 281 yards rushing on 61 carries over two seasons. Williams has also found the end zone four times. At this point, he has proven himself a capable second back behind fellow rising junior Josh Adams.

Kevin Stepherson, a three-star unranked in Scout’s 300, had a surprisingly good freshman campaign, becoming quarterback DeShone Kizer’s third favorite target last year. Stepherson caught 25 balls for 474 yards, good for 14 first downs and five touchdowns.

WHAT’S AHEAD?

Despite posting a 4-8 season, the Irish have grabbed as many highly-rated recruits for their forthcoming class as Michigan.

Brock Wright / Photo: Scout.com

The two teams have split Scout’s top 100 that received offers from both schools. Besides Peoples-Jones, Michigan will be welcoming four-star wide receiver Tarik Black (#90, 2017) and four-star outside linebacker Drew Singleton (#93) in the summer. Notre Dame has four-star tight end Brock Wright (#76) and four-star inside linebacker David Adams (#88) coming to South Bend instead of heading farther north.

We cannot discount timing, however. The Wolverines, fresh off their Orange Bowl appearance, have the momentum of late, grabbing five of the last six commits. Those all came since the college football season started. Four-star offensive tackle Aaron Banks (#163) is the lone individual to choose the Irish over Michigan recently.

KELLY & HARBAUGH AREN’T IMMUNE TO DECOMMITS

Of course, nothing is final with 2017 or 2018 recruits until they fax or e-mail their national letters of intent. Both schools have already seen commits suddenly change their minds.

Leonard Taylor, a three-star defensive end, initially picked the Wolverines over the Irish, but then de-committed before the season started. (He’s currently undecided.) Three-star running back A.J. Dillon also picked Michigan over Notre Dame, but then committed to Boston College shortly before Christmas.

Four-star outside linebacker Pete Werner chose Ohio State after initially picking the Irish. Most recently, four-star cornerback Elijah Hicks enrolled in Cal instead of honoring his verbal commitment to Notre Dame. Hicks held a Michigan offer, among several others.

COMPLETE LIST

The post In Kelly-Harbaugh Recruit Fight, It’s Tied appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

PODCAST

• Irish Illustrated (F): Irish hit spring stride (50:55)
• ND Insider: Podcast: ND Insider recruiting update 4-2 (10:42)

RECRUITING – OFFERED

• Bruin Report Online ($): Video: Lucas at The Opening ( AZ RB Chase Lucas)
• Dawg Post (F): Big get for Dawgs – Price commits ( GA OT E.J. Price)
• Irish247 (F): Robinson, family excited about Notre Dame offer ( KY CB Davonte Robinson)
• Irish Turning Point: The buzz buzz
• Scout (F): Offers coming in for Ulmer, Robinson ( KY CB Davonte Robinson)
• Scout ($): 4-star TE Angeline planning Penn State return (PA Cary Angeline)
• Scout ($): 4-star TE Angeline gets Michigan fill (PA Cary Angeline)
• Scout ($): ND history on, off field impresses 4-star TE (PA Cary Angeline)
• Scout ($): Fulton likes LSU’s DB track record ( LA CB Kristian Fulton)
• Slap the Sign: Notre Dame offers ’17 Florida offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons
• USC Football.com: Trevon Sidney steals the show ( CA CB, also CA WRs Tyler Vaughns and Dylan Crawford)

RECRUITING – ND INTERESTED, NO OFFER

• Big Red Report (F): Brendan Scales talks about Nebraska offer ( MO TE)
• Big Red Report (F): D.J. Morgan adds Nebraska offer ( CA S)
• Irish Illustrated ($): LaBruna visits dream school (CA QB Andrew LaBruna, no rating yet)
• Scout ($): Alloway has two on top ( CA WR Damian Alloway)
• Show Me Mizzou ($): Mizzou offer for Scales ( MO TE Brendan Scales)

CURRENT TEAM

• CSN Sportsnet Chicago: Notre Dame won’t be surprised by Will Fuller’s growth
• Inside the Irish: Opportunities await Notre Dame’s running backs
• Inside the Irish: Spring practice breakdown: A look inside (finally!)
• Irish247 ($): Irish staff navigating through quarterback competition
• Irish247 (F): Denbrock: ‘(QB) is going to be a hard decision to make’
• Irish247 (F): Smythe leads the way for Irish at tight end
• Irish Illustrated (F): From a one in a thousand chance to…
• One Foot Down: Notre Dame football – Spring practice recap for April 1
• Rant Sports: 5 questions for Notre Dame football during 2015 spring practice

COACHING

• CBS Sports: Power Five college football coach rankings: The top 25 (Brian Kelly is #13)
• Irish Illustrated (F): The village voice(s)
• Irish Illustrated (F): Sanford scouting style, substance

IRISH IN THE NFL

• Bleacher Report (Monaco): Notre Dame football: DaVaris Daniels, Kendall Moore eye NFL careers
• ESPN: Atlanta Falcons waive safety Zeke Motta
• Irish247 (F): Daniels ready for next step
• Irish247 (F): Boosting draft stock was Koyack’s Pro Day focus
• Irish Turning Point: Pro Day results
• State of the Texans (F): Vince Wilfork is “here for Houston” (Louis Nix)

MISC.

• USA Today: College football playoff will keep weekly rankings

The post Morning Roundup: April 3, 2015 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

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Good morning! Here are your headlines:

FROM OUR SITE

• Two Notre Dame sons return home

VIDEO

• Scout: Williams bringing a lot to South Bend (Dexter Williams) (5:46)
• Eastbay: Kyle Brindza – Notre Dame (0:15)
• MGoDrone: College stadiums of the midwest! (2:14)

PODCAST

• Irish Sports Daily: 2-23-2015 Power Hour (1:08:52)

RECRUITING

• Scout: Mitchell updates recruitment (Shon Mitchell)
• Scout: Core 6 unites top recruits (Hunter Johnson, Jared Mayden, Byron Murphy and Julian Love)
• Irish Sports Daily: 2016 CA WR hoping to hear more (Grant Porter)
• One Foot Down: 2016 Notre Dame recruiting big board: Wide receiver & athlete (Ervin Barrett, Marquez Calloway, Jordan Fuller, Ahmir Mitchell, Julian Love, Donnie Corley, Dylan Crawford, Divine Deablo, Devin Duvernay, Josh Hammond, Brad Hawkins, Justin Layne, Austin Mack, Javon McKinley, Tre Nixon, Darian Owens, Darnell Salomon, Trevon Sidney, Dredrick Snelson, Eli Stove, Tyler Vaughns, Benjimen Victor, Cameron Chambers and Dillon Mitchell)
• Bleacher Report (Monaco): Notre Dame football recruiting offers of the week (Daniel Bituli and Julian Okwara)
• Slap the Sign: Notre Dame Junior Day visitors (Tommy Kraemer, Brad Hawkins, Josh King, Ron Johnson, Michael Jordan, Brandon Peters)
• MLive: Could Lansing Catholic QB Tony Poljan be the next Ben Roethlisberger? Some MAC schools think so

CURRENT TEAM

• Irish Illustrated: Spring questions: Offensive line (Nick Martin, Matt Hegarty, Quenton Nelson, Mike McGlinchey, Alex Bars, Steve Elmer, Hunter Bivin, Colin McGovern, John Montelus, Sam Mustipher, Mark Harrell, Jimmy Byrne, Jerry Tillery, Tristen Hoge, Trevor Ruhland)
• Inside the Irish: Spring solutions: Offensive line
• Bleacher Report (Arnold): How Brian Kelly and Notre Dame distracted attention from the QB battle
• Bleacher Report: 10 college football programs with the most compelling QB controversies (#8 Notre Dame)

IRISH IN THE NFL

• One Foot Down: A recap of the 2015 NFL Combine (DaVaris Daniels, Ben Koyack, Kyle Brindza)
• ND Insider: NFL Combine results for former Notre Dame players
• The Landry Hat: Dallas Cowboys: Zack Martin provides valuable draft lesson

COACHING

• Tampa Bay Times: USF Bulls start spring football drills (Autry Denson)
• KWCH: Wichita Sports HOF announces 2015 inductees (Kirk Doll)
• 247 Sports: Gilmore expected to leave UNC (Keith Gilmore)
• Go UTSA: UTSA hires Mike Markuson as assistant coach
• Irish Turning Point: Fresh in the Gug: Todd Lyght

SCHEDULING

• Bleacher Report: 25 biggest trap games for 2015 college football season (12. Notre Dame at Pitt)
• Inside the ACC: Top 10 non-conference games for the ACC in 2015 (Notre Dame at Clemson is #7; Notre Dame/BC at Fenway is #2)

MISC.

• ND Insider: Megan Whitt leaving Notre Dame recruiting operations
• 247 Sports: Megan Whitt leaving Notre Dame for job in the NFL
• AL.com: Notre Dame apparently sent recruiting letter to current Rutgers football player
• Yahoo Sports: Rutgers lineman receives recruiting letter from Notre Dame
• UHND: Do Notre Dame’s football facilities measure up to competition?
• Fox Sports: Photos: Awesome helmet designs for UF, Ohio State, LSU & more
• ESPN: The 2015 ACC Oscars (Best picture: The fourth down play(s) in Notre Dame at Florida State)

The post Morning Roundup: Feb. 24, 2015 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

VIDEO

• ESPN: Weis likely done coaching (1:59)

RECRUITING

• One Foot Down: 2015 football recruiting: DB and K review
• Slap the Sign: 2015 Notre Dame football recruiting: Offensive grades
• One Foot Down: Dexter Williams is the back Notre Dame needed
• Irish Illustrated: Kraemer all in with Irish
• Irish Sports Daily: Mack leveraging the competition
• Blue & Gold Illustrated: Four-star Mitchell hears from Kelly
• The Patriot News: Penn State recruiting target Rashan Gary ‘a freak of nature’; Michael O’Connor offers ‘instant recognition,’ and more
• Bleacher Report: CFB future 100: Top 20 wide receivers in Class of 2016 (Justin Layne, Javon McKinley, Brandon Burton, Dylan Crawford, and Tyler Vaughns)
• Examiner: Battle for top recruits heats up between Michigan State Spartans and Wolverines (Donnie Corley)
• Bucknuts: BH: Early signing period coming soon? (Ben Bredeson)
• UHND: Notre Dame football recruiting ’16 needs: Offense

COACHING

• 247 Sports: Kyle McCarthy says thanks to ND Nation

CURRENT TEAM

• Irish Illustrated: Transfers help Kelly combat attrition
• Bleacher Report (Keith Arnold): Avery Sebastian just one of Brian Kelly’s many roster moves
• UND.com: Torii Hunter Jr. joins Notre Dame baseball team
• ND Insider: Notre Dame WR Torii Hunter Jr. joins Irish baseball team
• 247 Sports: Notre Dame receiver Torii Hunter Jr. joins Irish baseball team
• Chicago Tribune: Torii Hunter Jr. joins Notre Dame’s baseball team
• Sporting News: Torii Hunter Jr. becomes two-sport athlete at Notre Dame
• Bleacher Report: 10 college football teams whose schedules best set up a playoff run

CHARLIE WEIS

• Inside the Irish: Mailbag: Digging into some big changes
• ESPN: Charlie Weis says he does not intend to coach again
• Pro Football Talk: Despite NFL coordinator talk, Charlie Weis doubts he’ll coach again
• KU Sports: Former KU football coach Charlie Weis done coaching?
• The Sports Xchange: Weis doubts he’ll ever coach again
• Fox Sports: Report: Charlie Weis believes his coaching days are over
• Sporting News: Charlie Weis: ‘It’s highly doubtful that I will ever coach again.’
• SB Nation: Charlie Weis ‘highly doubtful’ he’ll coach again
• Sports Illustrated: Charlie Weis: ‘Highly doubtful I will ever coach again’
• Kansas City Star: Charlie Weis says he doesn’t plan to coach again
• University Herald: Charlie Weis probably not coaching again, turning attention to global development delays charity

MISC.

• Heavy: Skylar Diggins: 5 fast facts you need to know (Daniel Smith)
• Sporting News: 2015 college football wedding planner: Big 12 edition (Sept. 5: “Don’t have a Longhorn-themed wedding today.”)
• Reign of Troy: 13 most horrifying moments in USC football history (1977: Green jerseys)
• Capital Gazette: Navy to open 2015 football season against Colgate on Sept. 5

The post Morning Roundup: Feb. 14, 2015 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.