Brian Kelly Recruting: Better With Time

Brian Kelly has guided Cincinnati to as many BCS games in three years as Charlie Weis did in five seasons at Notre Dame. He won't coach the Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl this season against Florida because of taking the Notre Dame job, he will spend the time working on this years recruiting class, trying to keep it in the top 15 nationally.

Many Notre Dame fans have been upset with the hiring of Kelly based on the fact he hasn't proven to be a great recruiter at this point in his career. Since taking over for Mark D'antonio for the 2006 International Bowl his current class which ranks 44th according to Rivals.com is the highest rated class he has had.

This is seen as bad in plenty of people's "Irish Eyes" but compare it to where his other classes have ranked and its reason for much optimism in South Bend.

A year ago Kelly parlayed a Big East Championship and Orange Bowl appearance into a class that ranked 60th. Prior to that he pulled in classes of 67th (2008) and 89th (2007) with the Bearcats. Good news here on two parts:

1. He has gotten better at recruiting over the years at a university where it is hard to attract talent. Sorry Cincy fans, you will forever be a basketball school.

2. He has won two consecutive Big East championships at Cincinnati with almost no talent in his upper classes. This years senior class (who was brought in by Dantonio) ranked 102nd in the nation. I don't care if the Big East is the weakest BCS conference, its still an excellent feat.

The more I read/research, the more hope I find in Fighting Irish football under Brian Kelly. He has a much greater recruiting base with the Notre Dame name alone and he develops talent much better than his predecessor at Notre Dame.

He's not Bob Stoops and he's not the current Urban Meyer, but he is pretty similar to the guy Urban Meyer was just before the University of Florida.

Blake Lueders is Irish

Blake Lueders
6'5'' - 250 Lbs.
Zionsville, IN
4 Star - Defensive End
Notre Dame's 7th Verbal Commit

I wonder what Blake Lueders biggest concern when deciding which school he would attend was. Campus lifestyle? Weather? Winning tradition? Chance to be a legend? How about academics? All you have to do is look at the finalists that Lueders chose Notre Dame over on Thursday to find out that this young man realizes that at least in his house, academics come before football.

The other finalists you ask? Northwestern, Boston College, Wake Forest, and Stanford. All four schools are obviously amongst the elite when it comes to academics so it was nice to see a young man have such a desire to prepare himself for the post football life and not worry about the glamour of college athletics for a change.
So, he's obviously a smart guy but what can Blake Lueders do on a football field that will make me happy that he chose to attend Notre Dame? Here's a quick rundown:
-6'5'', 250 Lbs.
-Plays middle linebacker in high school, expected to be a defensive end in college
-Product of Zionsville High School in Zionsville, Indiana

Here's what I see from Blake Lueders in his future at Notre Dame:
He's not the all-star defensive line recruit in this class, that belongs to Chris Martin who made it public that he is sticking with his commitment to Notre Dame towards the end of this week. Lueders will not likely be the dominant pass rusher that so many expect Martin to be, I don't really see Lueders fitting into the Irish's defensive plans in his first two years on campus. It will take time for him to make the adjustment from playing middle linebacker to high school to learning a new position at Notre Dame.

With that said he sounds like and appears to be an outstanding athlete. His size is going to work to his advantage as he is listed at 6'5'' and 250 pounds. Couple that with a 4.79 40-yd dash time and you can expect big things from him down the road.
The fact of the matter is that learning a new position is very difficult to do at any level, especially the division one level. With that said, I expect to see Blake competing for a starting job and turning into a very formidable defensive end by his junior year at Notre Dame.

ND/USC - A Week Early???

This weekend may prove to be a very important one when it comes down to the Notre Dame/USC rivalry in the next few years with three players currently deciding between schools making trips to South Bend. Sure the teams do not play for another week but this weekend features an opportunity to take dead aim at the Trojans recruiting class of 2009 with both linebacker Manti Te'o, safety Byron Moore, and fullback Tyler Gaffney making official visits to South Bend this afternoon.

Manti Te'o is amongst the most highly saught after defensive recruits in the nation, earning a five star rating from both Rivals and Scout at the middle linebacker position. Te'o is being recrutied by nearly every college in the nation and has taken a visit to UCLA and has also attended two of USC's summer camps. Besides Notre Dame this weekend, Te'o is expected to visit the likes of Stanford and BYU as well as USC before he chooses a school so unless he is overly wowed by South Bend in the middle of November, don't expect a commit here this weekend. The Irish have been able to land some of the biggest names on the offensive side of the ball in recruiting wars the past few years but Te'o would be the first 5 Star recruit Charlie Weis will have been able to bring in on the defensive side of the football.

Byron Moore, a former UCLA commit and current commit to USC will be on Notre Dame's campus this weekend as well as he has recently sought after the Irish instead of the Irish going after him. Moore plays in the same district as Irish WR Commit Shaquelle Evans and the two sound like decent friends. After Evans committed to Notre Dame it was Moore who actually called Notre Dame, hoping to get noticed by the Irish. It payed off as Evans will also be on campus this weekend and don't think Charlie Weis wouldn't like to steal one of USC's charmed recruits right out from under him. To me Moore seems to have a real interest in Notre Dame and if the Irish are to see a commit this weekend it would most likely be from him.

The third and final high school senior visiting the Golden Dome this weekend is Tyler Gaffney, one of the most highly touted fullbacks in the nation. Gaffney also lists Stanford and USC as schools he is considering to attend. The Irish have been somewhat disappointing in what Asaph Schwap has brought to the table after playing now in his fourth year and would definitely like to get a fullback in whom they may have more confidence in to do a bit more. Gaffney is averaging over 10 yards a carry for Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego this year as he has scored 30 touchdowns. With a visit already set for Stanford in January I feel it will likely go very close to National Signing Day before Gaffney decides where he will call home the next four seasons.

Also on campus will be juniors Corey Cooper (ATH), Kyle Prater (LB), and Chandler Whitmer (QB).

GO IRISH, BEAT ORANGE