With the emotional roller coaster that was National Signing Day all of 48 hours in the past, let's take one last look back at some of the things that transpired in our most recent recruiting cycle.
In the words of the manbeast commonly referred to as Kapron Lewis-Moore Lehhhhhgooooo....
1. Gunner Kiel flipped from LSU to Notre Dame at the last possible minute to get on campus as an early enrollee. Interestingly he met a seemingly lukewarm reception from the Irish faithful. According to Rivals, Scout, 247 and MaxPreps Kiel is the #1 QB in the country and played in a similar spread system in High School. Why the lack of excitement?
I'll openly admit that I'm guilty of being in the lukewarm camp, and honestly it has nothing to do with Kiel himself. It simply has to do with the current state of the quarterback position at Notre Dame. Clear cut starting quarterbacks that take care of the football make the fan base sleep good at night. In a perfect world you get one of those every couple of years, and mix in one or two permanent red hatters in between. That scenario gives you that solid QB 1, an equally capable youngster waiting in the wings, and a couple of break glass in case of emergency dudes. With said model you can save your worries for something else.
But we don't have that model. We have an incumbent starter that turned the ball over a lot and has some noted limitations. We also have Goldrix waiting to step up and take over with no/ limited experience. And now on top of that we have Kiel who BK says will get meaningful reps in the spring. The last time we went into fall camp with an "open competition" at QB featuring a handful of relatively youthful options 2007 happened. This scenario make us very, very uncomfortable. FOUR QBs competing in the spring! Sell that business somewhere else buddy, we need to make a run and get this train back on the tracks with some momentum! You can't do that with four quarterbacks!
In the short term Kiel just further complicates an already controversial and somewhat scary situation at the most critical position on the field. Hence the meh reception.
2. On the opposite side of the coin Deontay Greenberry had a last minute change of heart and left ND high and dry on NSD in favor of ummmm........ Houston???? Within seconds the internet almost caught on fire. Is the loss of Greenberry THAT big?
Yes and no. Convenient right? Let's examine both viewpoints.
Initial disclaimer- I am well aware of the "differences" between the two scenarios. No need to rehash them in the comments. Now where was I?
Yes- For starters this class wasn't ever going to be big in terms of numbers and receiver was a big priority with Michael Floyd outbound. Greenberry was our top recruit at the position and a kid that looked like he might contribute right away. Here at OFD we had him collectively ranked right at the top of the class with Kiel. So yeah, from a pure talent and numbers standpoint he's definitely a loss.
No- We still have John Goodman people! Kidding, but does one player a program make? We all know the answer to that one. Not to mention that a few current players now have an opportunity to step up and may very well do so. Michael Floyd himself told Murtaugh on Wednesday not to sleep on Goody and Daniel Smith. Toss in TJ Jones, Toma, and a couple of these other young guys and collectively we should be just fine at the receiver position. I'm more concerned about who is going to be throwing to them.
Here's why I really think this hurt so much. One the way he did it at the 11th hour with no warning obviously lends itself to some outrage. That's fair. But really and truly it was just one last swift kick in the junk for a fan base that hung in there through some really painful losses this season to include the bowl game. NSD has the ability to bring with it hope for a better tomorrow and we were all really hoping that it would. This class was never going to wow us but Greenberry flipping to Houston just turned NSD into one last emotional sucker punch for all of us. Those tend to sting. A lot.
With that, best of luck in Cougartown DG. We'll be keeping an eye on how that works out for you.
3. Now that the class of 12' is in the books what position group do you see as the biggest need for 2013?
Seriously? FULLBACKS!!!! We have zero and need at least 8 on the roster for crying out loud! I don't know why everyone is so upset about Greenberry. This is the real travesty in the most recent recruiting cycle.
4. Do some quick research and give us the #1 prospect for 2013 that you want to come to Notre Dame.
I'll go with 6'6" 240lb Pickerington OH Defensive End/ Outside Linebacker prospect Taco Charlton. No further explanation required.
5. What was the most interesting and or entertaining recruiting story this year that had zero to do with Notre Dame?
I have to go with 5 star Geismar, Louisiana safety Landon Collins vs. his Mom. File that one in the realm of the bizarre. I was watching the UA game live when he committed to Bama only to have his Mom instantly roll in hot and say "I feel like LSU is a better place for him to be." "LSU Tigers, number one. Geaux Tigers." Just a little awkward right? She didn't let it go though. She even went so far as to give an interview to momsteam.com in which she claims that Nick Saban offered her son's girlfriend a job in Nick Saban's office. At least he didn't ask Collins to grayshirt. Yet.
An honorable mention for #5 is Defensive Line Coach Tosh Lupoi leaving Cal for Washington and taking all of Cal's top recruits with him. Ohhhhhhh recruiting.
What do you think?