Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Potential Linebacker Swap For The Irish?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are in a recruiting dog fight. With two months to go until signing day, Notre Dame is at a crossroads with its football program, and that usually is a sign that recruiting can get a little more uncertain, and a lot more crazy.

The Irish have already felt the sting from a 4-8 season and a head coach that is on the hot seat. The latest pain was the decommitment of four star linebacker Pete Werner, and they have been battling other schools to keep committed recruits like Paulson Adebo and Elijah Hicks in the 2017 class.

There has been an interesting development as of late in terms of linebacker recruiting for Notre Dame. While there were reports stating that Notre Dame would probably not be pursuing other linebackers, we all know that recruiting is fluid and opportunities surface all the time.

Enter Antjuan Simmons:

Simmons recently decommitted from the Ohio State Buckeyes. Simmons could be a classic recruiting case of Urban Meyer where Meyer takes commitments when he has low numbers to work with and then pushes them out as others commit to him that are rated higher. The impending commitment of 5 star linebacker Baron Browning as well as the aforementioned Pete Werner focusing on the Buckeyes... Simmons decided to look elsewhere.

That elsewhere could very well be Notre Dame for the Ann Arbor, Michigan native. While the Irish are also on a numbers crunch (at the moment) there is a spot for Simmons, and Notre Dame would welcome him. Notre Dame will be battling the in-state Michigan State Spartans as well as the Arizona Wildcats.

If the Irish land Simmons and the Buckeyes get Werner, this is basically a recruiting swap. While the players are different in style and stature, they are both 4 star linebackers that could help the program. With the mess that Notre Dame is in right now, Simmons could be some good news with some work.