It’s been four months since I’ve had a chance to categorize my thoughts by number, so I thought I’d bust out a “Five Things,” for Brian Kelly’s first Junior Day. As mentioned previously, Saturday’s efforts netted the Irish defensive end prospect Brad Carrico as the first commitment to Kelly’s 2011 crew, but it also laid the groundwork for a class that is essential to Brian Kelly’s rebuilding of a Notre Dame football program stuck in neutral after five years of Charlie Weis.
While there’s not too much you can take out of a recruiting weekend nearly a year before Signing Day, here are five things we learned this weekend:
1) Brian Kelly is selling Notre Dame.
This is hardly revolutionary, but many worried that the Irish would be short changed after losing Charlie Weis, a head coach as pro-Notre Dame as humanly possible. While BK didn’t sit in the student section and visit Father Hesburgh as a college student, it doesn’t take a diploma from the institution to be able to promote Notre Dame.
Sampling the reactions of visitors, to a man we heard the value of a Notre Dame education and the history and tradition of Notre Dame football, letting us know clearly that the Irish staff worked the Notre Dame playbook accordingly. Kelly and his staff were happy to cite the graduation statistics and lean on the value of a Notre Dame degree after football, just as Weis, Willingham, Davie, and Holtz all did. It’s not rocket science, but it’s reassuring that the staff wasn’t afraid to start with what works and move on from there.
Combining the academic package, the prowess of Kelly and his coaching staff, with the top-notch facilities, and there’s no reason to worry about Kelly and his staff being able to properly promote a university where they’re just getting comfortable.
2) The Irish aren’t afraid of blue chips.
When Brian Kelly started talking about the “right kind of guys,” many worried that recruiting RKGs would mean the end of the Irish chasing top flight recruits. This weekend proved that was a myth, and the early returns on the weekend visits with those players was impressive for the coaching staff.
Players like Illinois wide receivers Davaris Daniels and Evan Spencer, New Mexico left tackle Matthew Hegarty, Kansas quarterback Bubba Starling, and Michigan running back Justice Hayes proved that this staff can wow a blue-chip player, and question marks now seem like trump cards when you look at the staff Kelly assembled. It’s looking more and more now that coaches like Bobby Diaco, Kerry Cooks, Ed Warinner, and Mike Elston will be closers to compliment guys like Tony Alford and head coach Brian Kelly.
Of course, a positive Junior Day is hardly proof that this staff has the chops to cut it in the open waters of high stakes recruiting, but things are certainly trending up for the Irish.
3) Expect some serious roster shuffling.
With Spring Practice opening Friday, expect some serious shuffling on the Irish roster. While the move of Theo Riddick has been confirmed, whispers of a position change for players like Cierre Wood and Lane Clelland have come from some very good sources.
One of the best parts of bringing in a new coaching staff is the objectivity they’ll have evaluating the talent on the roster. For better or worse, the connections between the players and the previous staff is gone. There are no big-name recruiting victories, only unproven football players on a roster. If Brian Kelly’s propensity to shift players to different positions holds true, expect some athletes to be moved to positions of need, especially safety and defensive end.
4) Carrico is a good start.
The signing of Brad Carrico supplies the Irish with a big body from a pipeline school at a position of need. Expect this Irish coaching staff, extremely confident in their ability to develop players, to follow that formula to fill needs and sign capable players.
Recruiting services like Rivals are getting better and better at evaluating high-end skill talent, but when it comes to offensive and defensive lineman -- just like it does for coaching staffs -- prognosticating who has what it takes to excel is still difficult. If Kelly and his staff can find players that fit the proper mold from geographical areas that this coaching staff has on lock-down, they won’t wait for other schools to validate their scholarship offer.
5) Expect the Spring Game to add more names.
The Irish have another big weekend on the horizon, and expect the Blue-Gold game to be another showcase weekend. With the recruiting timetable on quarterbacks already accelerated, and a few other recruits getting closer to making a commitment to the Irish, don’t be surprised if the Irish recruiting class swells to around five players by the end of Spring Practice. If the staff can have five committed athletes by April 24th’s Blue-Gold game, consider it a great start.