With his name joining the school directory on Notre Dame’s official website this morning, it was only a matter of time before he made it official. And this afternoon, he did: Aaron Lynch is (once again) committed to Notre Dame.
The good news for Brian Kelly and his staff? Lynch is staying in South Bend, and will attend classes on Tuesday, thus ending a roller-coaster recruitment that will go down in history as one of the bigger wins for Notre Dame in the internet recruiting era.
Lynch’s commitment to Notre Dame is the culmination of a startling turn of events that kicked off when Lynch decided to wear a Notre Dame t-shirt to a workout in San Antonio during U.S. Army All-American week. When asked about the sartorial choice, Lynch insisted it meant nothing, but did express regret with the way he handled his initial de-commitment from Notre Dame, which happened right after the loss to Tulsa.
But from that day on, luck turned for the Irish, winning their final four games of the season before taking that momentum into recruiting. Lynch will join defensive end Stephon Tuitt at defensive end, and the newly pledged Ishaq Williams as a quarterback tormentor, bringing three elite pass-rushing threats to South Bend in the same recruiting class, a defensive haul that hasn’t been seen in twenty years, when Vinny Cerrato and Lou Holtz were in charge.
Lynch is the 22nd recruit in the 2011 class and arguably its most important. He dominated play at the Army Bowl with his speed and strength and adds an elite pass-rusher with the ability to grow into a true 3-4 defensive end. He’ll immediately join strength coach Paul Longo’s system and being transforming into a defender that can help immediately.