Class Reviews: Freshmen

Good. Better. Best.

That may best describe the first three full-time recruiting efforts under Charlie Weis and recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello’s watch from 2006-08.

A mostly bear market on the recruiting circuit since 2000 was gradually leading Notre Dame from upper-tier affluence to middle-class – or even impoverished – status. But the bull market has returned in that arena of the program.

Some might dismiss recruiting rankings as pure bull. Certainly, enough highly-ranked classes at Notre Dame over the last 30 years have faltered, so one might be cautious about issuing bold statements. Games are ultimately played in stadiums, not on paper. Schools such as Boston College, Michigan State and Purdue are seldom celebrated nationally for their recruiting, yet they’ve routinely defeated top-10 ranked Notre Dame classes over for the past decade.

Nevertheless, better to bring in such revered hauls that elicit future promise than to wonder each February why Notre Dame cannot attract more of the crème-de-la-crème. Here’s an overview of the five Notre Dame classes on this year’s roster and the rise in surplus:

2008 (Freshmen)
Number Signed: 23
Recruiting Rankings: Lemming, SuperPrep, Rivals.com and Scout.com all No. 2, ESPNU/Scouts Inc. (9)

Perceived Strengths: Other than not signing a kicker or punter, just about every area was addressed resoundingly well.

Spearheaded by defensive coordinator Corwin Brown, the Irish reeled in their most voluminous and strongest defensive haul since 1990 (Bryant Young, Jim Flanigan, Oliver Gibson, Anthony Peterson, Pete Bercich, Jeff Burris, Tom Carter, Greg Lane, etc) with five defensive linemen, four linebackers and three defensive backs.

Offensively, it was stunning to sign another premier quarterback such as Dayne Crist the year after Clausen, while receivers Michael Floyd and tight end Kyle Rudolph also received the highest possible ratings from recruiting services.

Perceived Weaknesses: Running back missed out on several prime prospects such as Cyrus Gray (Texas A&M), Ryan Williams (Virginia Tech) and Carlton Thomas (Georgia), but the Irish weren’t shut out with the addition of Parade All-American Jonas Gray. A defensive line verbal commit who defected to Florida for the second straight year (Omar Hunter) stung, but this time the Irish weren’t left shorthanded.

Conclusion: It would be preferable for the Irish to not have to count as much on this group as freshmen as last year’s. That would mean the older classes are developing to the point that freshmen don’t have to be inserted because there is no other hope.

However, this haul does possess championship timber if it can be augmented with proper development, desire and other quality classes.

Class Reviews: 5th Year Seniors

Class Reviews: Seniors

Class Reviews: Juniors

Class Reviews: Sophomores