Notre Dame took its lumps in a few key recruiting battles at running back this week when two top prep backs committed to different schools. The Irish lost out on top target, Tampa’s Ryan Green to Florida State, while Paul Chryst and Pitt picked up South Jersey’s Corey Clement, who ran for 2,500 yards last season and had an impressive offer list.
Don’t expect the Irish to stop their recruitment of either prospect. Green’s commitment won’t stop Notre Dame from pushing the Florida product to take an official visit, and there’s no love lost between the Seminoles and Irish staff after the schools split high profile recruiting battles for Aaron Lynch and Ronald Darby. Tony Alford has developed a terrific relationship with Green and his father Vader, and while family pressure and geography played a major role in Green pledging to Jimbo Fisher, the Irish will chase the Florida speedster until Signing Day and still feel confident that the Tampa native is a great fit both on and off the field.
The Irish also had Clement high on their recruiting board, but Clement’s visit to Pitt and time with new coach Paul Chryst was enough to convince him that he should be a Panther.
“It just felt like it was the right place for me,” Clement told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It was wearing on me a little bit. I thought I would jump the gun and make this decision, and it feels like I made the right one.”
Again, Clement hasn’t closed the book on recruiting and said he still planned on taking official visits, so this could be just another case of a verbal commitment merely signaling an early leader in the clubhouse.
Still, news like this grinds the teeth of Irish fans. After also missing on Joliet Catholic’s Ty Isaac, the Midwest’s top running back prospect, it’s hard to be optimistic about the Irish picking up a game-breaking back from the top of their recruiting board after missing on three big names (for now). That said, after having William Mahone and KeiVarae Russell pledge to a backfield with nothing but questions behind Cierre Wood, recruits are now looking at the Irish backfield in a vastly different light.
Finding your way onto the field doesn’t seem like such a simple proposition any more. While some don’t expect Wood to play out his eligibility, he does have two seasons remaining, with a potential fifth year set for 2013. While Theo Riddick enters his final season in South Bend, the emergence of George Atkinson has Irish fans excited about a potential power back who just so happens to be one of the fastest players in college football. Add to the mix Amir Carlisle, who had the inside track for the starting running back job at USC as a freshman before injuries got in the way, and you start to understand the type of competition that exists in the Irish backfield.
There’s going to be competition at every school, but after not having enough bodies to take carries last spring, the Irish now look to have a depth chart that stacks up with just about any BCS program:
Running Back Depth Chart (seasons of eligibility remaining)
Cierre Wood (2)
Theo Riddick (1)
George Atkinson (3)
Amir Carlisle (3)
Cam Roberson (3)
William Mahone (4)
KeiVarae Russell (4)
This group could easily feature Cam McDaniel, who switched to cornerback this spring after Tee Shepard left school before practices started. It could also include a guy like Davonte Neal, who has spent a lot of time in the backfield during his record-setting prep career.
With a depth chart that looks unchanged with the exception of Riddick in 2013, the Irish can be incredibly selective when chasing a running back in the upcoming recruiting class. According to IrishIllustrated.com, Notre Dame has offers to David Williams of Philadelphia, Taquan Mizzell of Virginia Beach, Craig Lee of Redlands, California, and Tarean Folston of Cocoa, Florida. All four of those backs are highly rated with impressive offers. With James Onwualu already committed -- an offensive player that can work as a running back as well -- there’s no need to reach simply to fill a spot in a recruiting class that’s already in a place where it can be selective with 14 commitments and around eight spots left.