It was a very busy month for Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish coaching staff. BlueandGold.com gives you five things we learned from November.

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During the summer months of June to August, Notre Dame landed eight new commitments in the 2021 class. The Irish followed that up with two more additions to the class in September and October. Then came November, which included five new commitments in the span of just eight days.

It came as no surprise that Notre Dame was able to land Honolulu Punahou linebacker Kahanu Kia but beating out Utah — his father’s alma mater — was still impressive.

Notre Dame flipped Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic Caleb Johnson from Auburn and Valrico (Fla.) Bloomingdale cornerback Philip Riley from USC. Both prospects currently live in Florida, but Johnson is from Indiana, while Riley hails from Washington.

The Irish also flipped Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon kicker Joshua Bryan from Colorado.

The last verbal for Notre Dame in November was Merrillville (Ind.) High cornerback JoJo Johnson, who was formerly a Cincinnati commit but backed off his Bearcats’ pledge in October. The Irish staff offered Johnson Nov. 22 and earned his pledge two days later.

Notre Dame currently has 23 commitments in the 2021 class, which is a bigger number than we were expecting coming into the season. However, some departures from the roster and the Irish looking to cash in on its big success on the field seem to be a couple of factors behind this.

There are still some key targets left on the board for the Irish. Notre Dame would love to add a second running back in the cycle to go along with Metairie (La.) Rummel’s Logan Diggs, and West Bloomfield (Mich.) High’s Donovan Edwards and San Diego Morse’s Byron Cardwell are at the top of the wish list.

Notre Dame also seems set on taking a fourth defensive lineman in the class. Highland Springs (Va.) High standout Kelvin Gilliam has been the name to know for the past month, but he’s looking strong in his Sooners’ pledge. Notre Dame offered Oxnard (Calif.) Pacifica’s Devin Aupiu, a UCLA commit, last week, and the 6-5, 225-pounder is very interested in the Fighting Irish.

Los Angeles Loyola cornerback Ceyair Wright is also a priority for the Fighting Irish as well. He plans to be in South Bend for the weekend of Dec. 5 when Syracuse comes to town.

The Fighting Irish staff sent out several new offers in November, many of which occurred during Notre Dame’s bye week. Two very intriguing offers to note are Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic defensive end Alex Bauman and Pittsburgh (Pa.) Central Catholic defensive tackle Donovan Hinish. Alex is the brother of Irish freshman tight end Alex Bauman, while Donovan’s elder sibling is none other than Irish defensive lineman Kurt Hinish.

Notre Dame was the first school to offer Hinish, and Pittsburgh has since thrown its hat into the ring. Bauman holds offers from Massachusetts, Rutgers and William & Mary. I expect the Irish to land both prospects as long as it continues to target both.

Another big defensive line offer from position coach Mike Elston was to strong side end Caden Curry, the No. 35 overall prospect in the country. Curry played a key role in leading Greenwood (Ind.) Center Grove to capturing the 6A Indiana state playoffs. Notre Dame should be a top contender in Curry’s recruitment.

There had been rumors circulating for several months that Mansfield (Texas) Legacy defensive end David Abiara would be decommitting from Notre Dame. It was a six-month saga that ended Nov. 25.

“I would like to thank the University of Notre Dame and the whole coaching staff for giving me an opportunity to play at their school,” Abiara wrote on Twitter. “With that being said, I will be decommitting from Notre Dame and reopening my recruitment. No interviews please.”

Rivals ranks Abiara as the No. 59 player in the state of Texas and the No. 24 strong-side defensive end nationally.

There were a number of Fighting Irish verbals who looked great this season, but I wanted to highlight one recruit in particular here. Jonesborough (Tenn.) David Crockett (9-3) reached the second round of the Class 5A Tennessee state playoffs, and the heart and soul of the team was Irish linebacker pledge Prince Kollie.

The 6-2, 205-pounder got it down on both sides of the ball. He ran 181 times for 1,662 yards and 26 touchdowns and caught 13 balls for 290 yards and three scores. On defense, Kollie posted 109 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, one interception and four passes defended.

Kollie seemingly has a great shot at winning Mr. Tennessee for his outstanding 2020 season too.

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