Notre Dame Football Recruiting: 3 Star Quarterback, Brendon Clark, Commits To The Irish

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been in search of a quarterback to add to their 2019 recruiting class, and on the Fourth of July, they got a commitment from one.

3 Star quarterback, Brendon Clark, gave his commitment to the Irish today. The 6’2” 220 pounder from Midlothian Virginia chose Notre Dame over the Clemson Tigers, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Tennessee Volunteers. Clark was once committed to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, but once the recruiting heat started to get turned up by the Irish and others — Brendon re-opened his recruitment.

The Irish have been all over the map this cycle. They once held a commitment from Cade McNamara, but he decommitted from Notre Dame to commit to the Michigan Wolverines. One by one the other targets found homes elsewhere, and when Graham Mertz announced that he was fully committed to the Wisconsin Badgers, Notre Dame was completely on board with Clark.

Some believe that Notre Dame didn’t need to take a quarterback in this class, but the last time they did that (2009) the following class saw three commitments (Tommy Rees, Andrew Hendrix, and Luke Massa). It put the Irish in a bad situation moving forward. It’s always best to get a quarterback each cycle and let the chips fall as they may.

Clark’s assessment from 247 gives a lot of hope that Clark will become a productive player at the next level:

Clark is natural signal-caller. He has a smooth, quick release. He is comfortable throwing from the pocket or on the move and has a very strong arm. Clark sees the field well and goes through his progressions quickly. He shows good poise and has a great feel for the game. If he continues to improve his accuracy and consistency, he will have a chance to be an elite quarterback.

The class is filling up as we head towards the season. While there was a “magic number” floating around of about 22, it may only be 20 come signing day.

Clark is the 17th commitment in this class, and his pledge should see the Irish rise in the team recruiting rankings to the #6 spot (leapfrogging the Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes).

It was a big day for the Irish with Clark and a commitment from Cam Hart. The Irish feel pretty good about their depth in the secondary and at wide receiver, so perhaps they add another big time player in the trenches on both sides of the ball, and another linebacker. Notre Dame is in the thick of it for Asa Turner, and he may commit sooner rather than later.

I’d like to see another running back — but I’m not sure the Notre Dame staff sees it that way.