The Irish are making a play at another Georgia native that likely won’t head north quietly. While Brian Kelly, Chuck Martin and company were successful getting Stephon Tuitt out of the land of peaches (we’ll get to Tuitt more in a bit), they’ll have quite a bit of company as they pursue Tucker High School’s Josh Dawson, a 6-foot-4, 226-pound outside linebacker/defensive end.
Michael Carvell at AJC.com caught up with Dawson to discuss Notre Dame’s entrance on the scene:
Tucker High School’s Josh Dawson was offered an early scholarship by Notre Dame on Sunday night.
The 6-foot-4, 226-pounder has nearly 20 offers, including UGA, Virginia Tech and South Carolina. He is projected to play defensive end or linebacker in college.
“I’m excited because it’s Notre Dame, and they have a pretty big name in football across the country,” Dawson told the AJC. Dawson added that he is not favoring any schools at this moment.
“I thought I had a good chance at getting offered by Notre Dame because one of the assistants came by the school a couple of weeks ago, saw me working out, took some of my film and told my coaches they would get back to me. I didn’t know it would be this soon.”
Dawson said if there’s an offer he expected but hasn’t gotten, it would be Georgia Tech. “I talked to one of the Georgia Tech assistants maybe three weeks ago. They haven’t been out to any of our spring practices [at Tucker]. I don’t know what’s going on. Hopefully they will come by this week and make an offer. I’m interested.”
Dawson mentioned that he’s interested in hearing from big-hitters like Alabama, Florida and Auburn, so expect quite a battle for Dawson, who comes from a pipeline school known for producing plenty of University of Georgia football players.
“We have so many people from Tucker going to UGA,” Dawson told UGASports.com. “It’s a tradition and most people who get that offer go ahead and commit to Georgia. I’m just going to take it slow but it’s a big thing. Three of my coaches actually went to Georgia.”
Don’t expect the Irish staff to be intimidated, but pulling a guy like Dawson out of Tucker would be quite the accomplishment.
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Speaking of recruiting accomplishments, the AJC also caught up with incoming Irish freshman Stephon Tuitt, who looked back on the high-pressure process of getting recruited.
Stephon Tuitt was one of the state’s top recruiting dramas in 2011. The 5-star defensive end from Monroe Area High School initially pledged to Notre Dame but switched to Georgia Tech in mid-January. It lasted for about 30 hours as Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly quickly hopped on a plane to fly down to Georgia to convince Tuitt to commit again to Notre Dame, which Tuitt did, signing last February.
More than three months later, Tuitt was asked about his second choice. “If I didn’t go to Notre Dame, it would’ve been Georgia Tech. It came down to the point where it was … what my feelings were, talking to my family about them, looking for a brighter future, and that I felt more comfortable at Notre Dame. There’s nothing Georgia Tech could’ve done better. They recruited me very well.”
Tuitt was asked different questions as they looked back on the recruiting process and had a few interesting responses, including the regret of not visiting any West Coast schools during the process and Dabo Sweeney’s sales pitch on letting Tuitt play two-ways as both a tight end and a defensive end.
Still, if there’s a sentence that crystallizes Tuitt’s recruitment, this is it:
“It got crazy toward the end when it was finally time to sign the papers,” Tuitt said. “There’s a lot of pressure on you. People think you ought to sign with other schools than the one you signed with. Other than that, I enjoyed the recruiting precess and look forward to playing at the next level.”
Irish fans certainly looked forward to seeing Tuitt play there, too.
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Former Irish offensive lineman Alex Bullard has been granted a hardship waiver by the NCAA, allowing the Tennessee native to be eligible immediately for the home-state Volunteers.
Bullard transferred out of Notre Dame after the death of his father. His decision to play for the home-state Vols came after he told Brian Kelly and the Irish coaching staff that he wanted to be closer to his mother and family.
Bullard has immediately drawn the eyes of the Tennessee coaching staff, putting together an impressive spring practice after being thrust into the middle of an open competition after right tackle Ja’Wuan James was sidelined with mononucleosis. Bullard was given the Harvey Robinson Award by coaches for being the biggest surprise on offense this spring.
“He has a lot of pride and he works very hard,” Vols offensive line coach Harry Hiestand said. “He has talent. It’s all brand new to him. He will progress. He’s been a pleasant surprise for us.”
Bullard is cross-training on the offensive line and has shown an ability to slide inside to center as well. You’ve got to wonder where Bullard would stand in the race to replace Chris Stewart at right guard. The coaching staff never got a true look at Bullard after he missed most of last year’s spring practice as he dealt with his father’s illness and only saw the field against Michigan State, Boston College, and Western Michigan.
Bullard took to Twitter to comment on the news that he’d be eligible next season for Tennessee.
“Just officially got the news… I’d like to give a shout out to the NCAA for allowing me to be eligible for this upcoming season.”
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Meanwhile, it looks like Michigan has an offseason headache that’s threatening to derail any momentum built in Brady Hoke’s first offseason.
Early last Friday morning, standout wide receiver Darryl Stonum was pulled over and arrested for his second drunk driving offense during his time in Ann Arbor. Stonum was booked into jail at 4:30 a.m. by University of Michigan police, and the arrest was confirmed by a U-M spokesperson, where Stonum was stopped around 2:30 a.m. at an intersection near campus.
Head coach Brady Hoke released this statement:
“Darryl made a poor decision that is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated. He will be disciplined for behavior that is unbecoming of a Michigan football player. This is a serious situation, we are disappointed, and any athletic department discipline will be handled internally.
“We will provide the appropriate support and counseling in order for him to learn and grow from this mistake. Darryl has been suspended indefinitely from all team activities. If he fulfills all of his commitments he has to the legal system and our program, we will make a determination regarding his return to the team.”
It isn’t hard to see the similarities between Stonum and Irish wide receiver Michael Floyd, whose recent DUI arrest caused quite a stir in both the Notre Dame and national media.
Obviously, there’s a fairly large difference in the two when you consider this is Stonum’s second drunk-driving arrest, the first came during his freshman season at Michigan, when he served a one-game suspension for the September arrest. Stonum also ran into trouble when he failed to live up to the terms of his probation, missing court dates and failing to submit to the court ordered random alcohol testing. Stonum spent three nights in jail for the violations.
Brady Hoke’s comments left quite a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for both Stonum and Michigan, though you’ve got to wonder if public backlash will pressure the first-year coach into making an example of one of his leading receivers, like new Florida head coach Will Muschamp did when he kicked Janoris Jenkins off the team following his second drug-related arrest.
Stonum had 49 catches for 633 yards last season, so he’s nowhere near as productive as Floyd has been for the Irish, but it’ll be interesting following both the Michigan and national reaction to Stonum’s troubles. (I’m guessing it’ll be a fraction of the reaction that Floyd’s mishap elicited.)
May… One of the few times of year where football coaches just sit on pins and needles hoping their players simply take care of their final exams and stay out of trouble.
