The 2019 early signing period (Dec. 18-20) in college football saw all 17 Notre Dame verbal commits ink their letters of intent with the Fighting Irish, and then the Fighting Irish received an 18th signee from three-star Bakersfield (Calif.) Liberty cornerback Ramon Henderson later in the afternoon.
Collectively, the group of 18 is ranked 15th nationally by Rivals, primarily because of the lower amount of recruits that could be signed after bringing in 22 last year and 27 the year prior (of which 24 remain). Per NCAA limits, a team cannot have more than 85 on scholarship.
Outside of Henderson, this group had long been assembled, with the most recent of the 17 original pledges occurring July 5 from Omaha (Neb.) Burke wide receiver Xavier Watts.
Headlining the harvest are four Rivals top-50 players: St. Louis De Smet five-star wide receiver Jordan Johnson (No. 25), and four-star figures in Park Hills (Ky.) Covington Catholic tight end Michael Mayer (No. 37), Chester (Va.) Thomas Dale running back Chris Tyree (No. 43) and Phoenix Pinnacle offensive tackle Tosh Baker (No. 48).
Four others were classified among the top 250: New Canaan (Conn.) High quarterback Drew Pyne (No. 118), Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic tight end Kevin Bauman (No. 130), Lakeforest Hills (Ill.) High defensive tackle Rylie Mills (No. 161) and Honolulu St. Louis defensive end Jordan Botelho (No. 198).
Here are five main storylines from head coach Brian Kelly’s meeting with the media on Wednesday afternoon.
The Need For Speed
Prior to the 2019 season, Kelly indicated that the areas that most separated top-10 Notre Dame squads from the first tier group led by Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State et al is the speed and game-breaking explosiveness at the skill positions and cornerback, although graduating senior Troy Pride Jr., could match anyone in speed.
In Tyree and Johnson, they found such players and that caliber of skill. Tyree, for example, ran the fastest 55 meters (6.30) in the nation last February among high school athletes, and defended his title at the Fastest Man competition at the prestigious The Opening camp this summer with a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash.
It has always been comical to past NFL coaches such as Charlie Weis, or Hall of Fame executives such as Bill Polian — father of Notre Dame recruiting coordinator Brian Polian — that the NFL seldom finds many 4.4 or less individuals in the 40-yard dash, yet the high school ranks are replete with “thousands” of them.
“We wanted verifiable speed other than, ‘He’s running a 4.4,’” Kelly said. “Okay, you're going to have to prove it. Show me you’re running a 4.4. Give me verifiable times. … We have to see it in person, we have to get verifiable speed numbers on these guys or we’re not moving forward.”
Brian Polian said this particularly applied to cornerback, where the Irish signed four with the addition of Henderson. All are considered “developmental” three-stars, but Polian said the homework on them was thorough.
“I know there was some consternation earlier in the year about the defensive back board and defensive back situation,” he said. “I would tell you from our football staff's perspective we feel more comfortable with this group than probably any group we have recruited in the last couple years because we know the most about this group.
“Terry Joseph, Coach [Todd] Lyght, Clark Lea, myself in the spring recruiting, we flew all over the country. We watched these young men work out at track, in spring football. In whatever it was that they were doing that we were allowed to evaluate, we watched these guys.
"We have verified times on every one of them, whether it be a track time, a 40 time at a camp, we know more about this group than we probably do in the last, any group the last couple of years.”
2. Early Enrollees
Since its first admission of early enrollees into school in 2006 for the spring semester, Notre Dame has had 62 in those 14 years from 2006-19 — with a record 10 last year.
Next month when the spring term begins on Jan. 13, 2020, eight will begin their academic work, along with winter conditioning and then spring drills, which usually commence in early March: Botelho, Mills, Pyne, Watts, Shrewsbury (Mass.) wide receiver Jay Brunelle, Dusseldorf (Germany) Fryeburg Academy defensive end Alexander Ehrensberger and Southhaven (Miss.) High cornerback Caleb Offord.
Also enrolling in January will be Ohio State graduate transfer safety Isaiah Pryor, but he is not included in the ranking of the current recruiting class.
Last year, all four of the offensive linemen and three of the four defensive linemen utilized early admission into Notre Dame, headlined by defensive tackle Jacob Lacey, who was a regular in the 2019 rotation.
This year, three of the four defensive linemen again will be among the group that enrolls early.
3. Overcoming Chip Long’s Departure
A week ago today, news broke that third-year Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Chip Long and the Irish staff would part ways.
That can be unnerving right before signing your National Letter of Intent, especially because Long was recognized as a stellar recruiter who helped assemble one of the better collections of skill position players and tight ends at Notre Dame in this cycle.
However, Kelly said that deep, long-standing relationships with the entire staff — not just one coach — and the intrinsic attractions of Notre Dame trump any one coach. Part of being the “right fit” at the school is understanding and accepting this, which is why the class remained intact.
“Not one guy recruits here at Notre Dame,” said Kelly, referring to a constant collaborative effort. “It’s not ‘your guy.’ It's ‘our guy.’ I recruit them, Coach Polian recruits them, we team recruit. That's how we do things here at Notre Dame, and Notre Dame recruits to Notre Dame. So no one person is stronger than the university.
“For those guys that decide to go to schools based upon one individual, then you’re left up to those kinds of decommitments based upon singular relationships. That's never how we have recruited here at Notre Dame, and that’s not how we’ll ever recruit.”
4. Keeping The Cupboard Stocked
The 2019 recruiting cycle last year was a rarity because it was a full, complete class at virtually every position, including kicker (preferred walk-on Harrison Leonard), and punter (Jay Bramblett).
Most of the time, one or two areas come up short, so schools will compensate for those holes the following cycle.
This year the three areas where the numbers were low with incoming freshmen were offensive line (two), linebacker/rover (zero) and safety (zero). Part of it was that there were more limits on how many scholarships to give this season.
• As it stands, the Irish will have 15 scholarship offensive linemen in 2020, including incoming freshmen Michael Carmody and Tosh Baker, plus preferred walk-on No. 2 center Colin Grunhard, who has eligibility through 2021.
• At linebacker, eight players were signed the previous two cycles. The current sophomores include Bo Bauer, Jack Lamb, Paul Moala (rover) and Shayne Simon, while last year the Irish reeled in four with JD Bertrand, Osita Ekwonu, Jack Kiser (rover) and Marist Liufau.
• Although no freshman was signed at safety this year, Ohio State graduate transfer Pryor has two years of eligibility remaining and will join Freshman All-American Kyle Hamilton and his classmate Litchfield Ajavon, plus current sophomores Houston Griffith and D.J. Brown, to comprise a nucleus through at least the 2021 season.
5. Proving Results On The Field
For all the talk about “Notre Dame sells itself,” the reality is results also must be demonstrated on the field.
Landing prospects such as Johnson and Tyree are enhanced when over the past three seasons you have posted a 32-6 record — fifth best among the 65 Power Five schools — and been in the four-team College Football Playoff.
“You didn't get in the door if you weren't 32-6,” Kelly admitted.
Still, there is plenty of sales that remain, and what Notre Dame will always market to players such as Tyree, who has been enrolled in advancement placement classes, is the overall value provided by the school.
“You get in the door — but you’ve got to sell it,” Kelly said. “And I think we did a great job of selling who we are and why it was right for him … all those things lined up. If those things don't line up, he's not buying.
“So 32-6 only gets you so far. All those other things have to line up, too.”
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