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Notre Dame Football Recruiting: What to expect on Signing Day (early period)

New family members for starters.

By Joshua Vowles
Stanford v Notre Dame Photo by David Madison/Getty Images

As we approach the end of 2019, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are looking to the future when the early period for national signing day arrives on Wednesday. This is the third year since the NCAA changed the rules for football recruiting, and to say that it’s changed the game entirely is an understatement.

Notre Dame, and many other programs across the country, have almost their entire class locked up and ready to sign. The early signing period, and allowing official visits in the spring, allows a school like Notre Dame to move up the old timelines — which has proved to be an extreme advantage to what went on in the past.

There’s still plenty of recruiting drama as we saw with the recruitment of Asa Turner last year, but the weird flips and uncertainty that we became used to as Irish fans — well that’s almost a thing of the past.

It’s actually hard to tell if Notre Dame’s recruiting success (and lack of drama) is because of the early signing period or because they have gone 32-6 over that time. It’s most likely because of a mix of the two, which should allow for a lot more success in the future.

I will say that it’s a lot less exciting than having the one signing period in February, and for fans, it’s a little anticlimactic. There’s no doubt, however, that just a few memories of the past like Deontay Greenberry, Greg Little, and others will bring back any Irish fan into this cozy fold if they long for the “excitement” of the past.

Which Notre Dame commits will be signing on Wednesday?

Ready to be pleased? Notre Dame expects all 17 of their current commitments to sign their NLI (National Letter of Intent) on Wednesday and send them to Brian Kelly via electronic signature. Maybe some fax machines will still be used, but that technology is finally dying out in this industry.

Notre Dame Football’s 2020 Commit List (17)

POSITION PLAYER STATE HT WT RIVALS ESPN -247- 247 COMPOSITE COMMIT DATE SIGNED
POSITION PLAYER STATE HT WT RIVALS ESPN -247- 247 COMPOSITE COMMIT DATE SIGNED
QB Drew Pyne Connecticut 6'1"` 175 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/16/18 ✅☘️
TE Kevin Bauman New Jersey 6'5" 232 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6/13/18 ✅☘️
TE Michael Mayer Kentucky 6'5" 240 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 7/1/18 ✅☘️
DE Alexander Ehrensberger Germany 6'7" 238 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/31/19 ✅☘️
DT Aidan Keanaaina Colorado 6'3" 292 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2/13/19 ✅☘️
WR Jordan Johnson Missouri 6'2" 180 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/6/19 ✅☘️
DE/LB Jordan Botelho Hawaii 6'3" 230 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/18/19 ✅☘️
LS Alex Peitsch Washington D.C. 6'6 220 KOHLS 5⭐️ KOHLS 5⭐️ KOHLS 5⭐️ KOHLS 5⭐️ 4/24/19 ✅☘️
DE Rylie Mills Illinois 6'5" 275 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/6/19 ✅☘️
OT Tosh Baker Arizona 6'8" 275 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/8/19 ✅☘️
RB Chris Tyree Virginia 5'9" 178 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/23/19 ✅☘️
CB Clarence Lewis New Jersey 6'0" 185 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6/10/19 ✅☘️
OT Michael Carmody Pennsylvania 6'6" 285 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6/16/19 ✅☘️
WR Jay Brunelle Massachesetts 6'1" 210 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6/26/19 ✅☘️
CB Caleb Offord Mississippi 6'1" 175 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 7/4/19 ✅☘️
WR Xavier Watts Nebraska 6'1" 185 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 7/5/19 ✅☘️
CB Ramon Henderson California 6'2" 185 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 12/18/19 ✅☘️

Will there be any additions to this class?

As of right now, 4-Star Athlete Ramon Henderson looks to be the sole addition to this class on Wednesday. Henderson will commit and sign his NLI at a ceremony at his high school around 4:30 EST.

247 Sports

Notre Dame has been recruiting him as a cornerback, although the Bakersfield product has had a really good career at wide receiver as well.

How will the day go?

There will be a mad rush of NLI’s sent in in the morning, and even though Notre Dame has not offered an official time for a Brian Kelly press conference — we expect one early in the afternoon. Notre Dame could make other assistant coaches available during this time, and the most likely candidate would be Brian Polian. The special teams coach is also the recruiting coordinator, and would be able to provide probing reporters with a little more depth.

About an hour after this published, the following information was in my email via Notre Dame:

Notre Dame’s Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Brian Kelly will hold a press conference to discuss the program’s signing class on Wednesday, Dec. 18, at 12:15 p.m. in the Guglielmino Athletics Complex. He will be followed by availability with recruiting coordinator Brian Polian.

Both press conferences will be shown live as part of UND.com’s live signing day coverage, which begins at 11:45 a.m. Signing announcements will take place throughout the day via signingday.nd.edu and @NDFootball on Twitter.

OFD will be right here doing its thing, and coverage will start tonight (unless this counts and if so RIGHT NOW).

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