Popular opinion holds that the balance of power in college football has shifted to the warm-weather schools, specifically the Southeast Conference, the University of Texas and USC. When you look at the recruiting rankings of three major national services entering today’s National Signing Day, the evidence supports that claim.
Before all the precincts are in, on the morning of Signing Day, Rivals.com ranked Notre Dame’s class 14th, ESPN.com 19th and Scout.com 23rd. What is notable is that Penn State is the lone “cold-weather school” that consistently ranks ahead of Notre Dame in all three services.
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Kelly's 23 signatures are the most netted by any first year coach since Faust's 24 in 1981.
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For example, ESPN.com has seven SEC teams alone ahead of the Irish: Florida (1st), Alabama (3rd), Georgia (4th), Auburn (5th), LSU (8th), Tennessee (11th) and South Carolina (18th). That’s not even including other warm-weather sites such as Texas (2), Oklahoma (6), Florida State (9), Miami (12), Texas A&M (14), Stanford (15), Clemson (16) and UCLA (17). Other services have variances of it.
Ultimately, the issue remains the same as it has for the past 15 years: Notre Dame recruits enough talent to be a nine- or 10-win football program on occasion, as it was in 1995 (9-3), 1998 (9-3), 2000 (9-3), 2002 (10-3), 2005 (9-3) and 2006 (10-3).
But does it have enough to be a legitimate national title player, an 11-, 12- and 13-win program, on a fairly consistent basis such as eight to 10 of the warm-weather powers? Can new head coach Brian Kelly and Co. maximize the potential of what they have at their disposal, particularly with consistent shortages along the defensive front? Only the passage of time, about three years, can answer such inquiries.
In the meantime, here are nine other numbers to ponder this year:
1 Parade All-American signed by Notre Dame this year (58 were named), offensive tackle Christian Lombard. In the last 30 years, the Irish have had only two seasons — the infamous 2004 and 2005 classes — where it has had no Parade All-Americans in its classes. Then again, the record for most Parade All-Americans ever in one season by a school was 13 in 1981, Gerry Faust’s first season as the Irish head coach. Notre Dame never won more than seven games in the four years that group was on campus.
2 Legacies of Notre Dame’s past football glory. Tight end Alex Welch is the nephew of 1975-78 Irish linebacker Steve Heimkreiter, a starter for the 1977 national champs who ranks third on the all-time chart in tackles with 398 (behind Bob Crable and Bob Golic). Wide receiver Tai-ler Jones is the son of 1987-90 outside linebacker Andre Jones, a part-time starter for the 1988 national champs. The former USA Today second-team All-America had 23 career starts and 147 tackles.
3 True quarterback recruits in this class: Cincinnati natives Andrew Hendrix, Luke Massa, plus Illinois resident and early enrollee Tommy Rees. Two others, Colorado’s Danny Spond and Ohio’s Derek Roback, were recruited as “athletes”, although Spond might get a first look at QB, while Roback has been slotted for an H-back role. It is the most quarterback prospects signed since 2000 with Matt LoVecchio, Carlyle Holiday, Jared Clark and Abram Elam.
4 Defections from people who had originally committed to Notre Dame: running back Giovanni Bernard (North Carolina), cornerback Toney Hurd Jr. (Texas A&M), defensive end/outside linebacker Blake Lueders (Stanford) and defensive end Chris Martin (Cal). The latter two were the main setbacks because the Irish did not sign a defensive end last year. The only two prospective DEs in this class are California’s Justin Utupo and Florida’s Bruce Heggie, who did not have any offers from FBS schools. A potential third prospect is Hawaii’s Kona Schwenke and Virginia’s J.R. Ferguson.
5 Players signed from the state of Ohio — if offensive lineman Matt James signs as expected today. It would mark the most in one season from the Buckeye state since 1981, when the aforementioned Ohio native Faust inked nine. In addition to quarterbacks Hendricks Massa and Roback, tight end Welch also has signed. From 2000-09, the Irish signed only 11 players from Ohio, and from 1990-99 the number was merely seven. It used to be the prime base in the previous decades.
16 Early enrollees at Notre Dame since the practice began in 2006 under Charlie Weis. This year marks the most with five: quarterback Tommy Rees, receiver Tai-ler Jones and cornerbacks Stephen Boyd and Lo Wood, and safety Chris Badger. The Irish had three in 2006 (James Aldridge, Chris Stewart and George West), three in 2007 (Jimmy Clausen, Armando Allen and Gary Gray), two in 2008 (Trevor Robinson and Sean Cwynar) and three last year (Zeke Motta, Tyler Stockton and E.J. Banks).
18 Years ago that Cris Collinsworth, a three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver whose son Austin signed with the Irish, served as the color commentator for NBC on Notre Dame’s home games. Collinsworth replaced Bill Walsh in 1992 and had a reputation for ticking of Notre Dame followers with his blunt commentary. He was replaced in 1993 by Todd Christensen, but returned for one more season in 1994. Collinsworth replaced John Madden this year on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
24 Years since a product of the South Bend Community School Corporation signed with Notre Dame. That streak was broken today by 6-4, 217-pound South Bend Clay High School wide receiver Daniel Smith. Although the Irish have signed several prospects from nearby powerhouse Mishawaka Penn High, most notably offensive lineman Mike Rosenthal (1995-98) and current guard/center Braxston Cave, Smith is the first from South Bend since standout 1986-89 fullback Anthony Johnson.
29 Years since a first-year head coach at Notre Dame signed more players than Brian Kelly is expected to this year. In 1981, Gerry Faust signed 24, but back then the NCAA limit was 30. Since then, Lou Holtz inked 21 in 1986, Bob Davie 19 in 1997, Tyrone Willingham 18 in 2002 and Charlie Weis 15 in 2005. Kelly and Co. signed 23 recruits in 2009.
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