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Notre Dame Football Recruiting: What’s Next At Linebacker For The Fighting Irish?

Losing Dallas Gant to the Buckeyes was a big blow, but there is still plenty of time and prospects to consider.

By Joshua Vowles
Shayne Simon
Student Sports Flickr

For the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the recruiting loss of Dallas Gant recently to the Ohio State Buckeyes was a fairly harsh blow. Gant liked the Irish a lot, and hailed from Toledo Ohio- which isn’t exactly Buckeye country (the entire 419 is a giant melting pot of college allegiance thanks to the Toledo War of 1885-1886). For Gant though, the pull to Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes was strong, and it’s hard to deny given the success of Ohio State under Urban.

Fear not however...

Notre Dame will be just fine without Gant. Yes, Notre Dame really wanted him, but after a quick look at the position moving forward, we can see a lot of talent and potential.

With the move to the 4-2-5 with Mike Elko, there is an instant drop in need in terms of numbers. This shift saw the Irish take a pass on a few linebackers last year- late in the recruiting cycle. The cycle right now already has two really nice commitments in Bo Bauer and Ovie Oghoufo, and if you look at 2018... the Irish have eight linebackers:

  • Bo Bauer
  • Ovie Oghoufo
  • David Adams
  • Drew White
  • Jamir Jones
  • Jonathan Jones
  • Te’von Coney
  • Josh Barajas

In fact... all of those players will be eligible in 2019 as well. That’s a pretty healthy position to be in moving forward.

So, Notre Dame could strike out with the rest of its targets in the 2018 class, and still be quite alright. There is one, however, that could still join this class, and it would be a hell of a splash.

4 star, Shayne Simon from St. Peter’s Prep in New Jersey, is that player. If that school sounds familiar, it is the same high school and the same class of current Notre Dame commits; Justin and Jayson Ademilola.

As of right now, it appears that the Michigan Wolverines lead for Simon, but we are still a long ways away and with a couple of guys possibly in Simon’s ear, the Irish could find themselves with another gem from Jersey.

Regardless of that situation, Notre Dame is in good shape at linebacker, and that is cause for relief.

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