Five Things We Learned About Notre Dame Recruiting In September
It was another busy month for Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish coaching staff. BlueandGold.com gives you five things we learned from September.
1. Making Moves In Georgia
Irish fans were delighted when Athens (Ga.) Academy wide receiver Deion Colzie recommitted to Notre Dame on Monday. After initially making a pledge to Notre Dame 11 months ago and decommitting in March, it felt like a long shot that the 6-4, 205-pounder would rejoin the class, but that’s exactly what he did after his six-month hiatus off the Irish’s commit list.
While Colzie has played his high school ball in the backyard of the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, he’s from the Atlanta area, which is still a pro-UGA city despite Georgia Tech’s closer proximity. He’s trained with other recruits Notre Dame fans are familiar with over the years, including Hartwell (Ga.) Hart County tight end and Irish commit Cane Berrong and Atlanta Pace Academy wide receiver Jayden Thomas.
Shortly after Colzie announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Monday, Thomas took to social media to let the public know that he would be announcing his decision on Friday. My FutureCast pick went in back in August for Thomas to land at Notre Dame, and on Tuesday night, Rivals national recruiting director Mike Farrell made his prediction for the Irish too.
Thomas won’t announce his decision until Oct. 2, but in the month of September, it became clear that the Irish were making a strong move in Georgia. If Thomas does select the Irish, Notre Dame will have five players total committed from the Peach State in the 2021 and 2022 classes, after not signing any from the state in the 2020 cycle.
2. Staying Aggressive In 2021 Class
After Jonesborough (Tenn.) David Crockett linebacker Prince Kollie committed to Notre Dame, it seemed like the Irish were done at the position and were going to load up in the 2022 cycle.
But on Sept. 1, the Irish decided to offer Honolulu Punahou linebacker Kahanu Kia after evaluating his film and doing its research on him off the field as well.
“[Brian Polian] said that they have an opening at the linebacker spot, and I was the first person they thought of,” Kia said. “He checked up on me every weekend, and this past Sunday, he called me to tell me that they were still interested in me and want to get me an offer because they like the way I play.”
Kia has since stayed in close contact with the Irish staff, and Notre Dame is a top contender to land his commitment later this fall.
Indianapolis North Central started playing its 2020 season Aug. 21 and has already played six games. The Irish staff kept an eye on class of 2021 athlete Theran Johnson from the school, a Northwestern commit who has caught 22 passes for 332 yards and four touchdowns, plus notched 20 tackles, two pass deflections and an interception.
Notre Dame offered Johnson on Sept. 15 and has already been on a Zoom call with him.
Class numbers are difficult to compute at this time as the 2020 season is basically a freebie for eligibility, but the Irish staff has a much better idea of what the future will look like, and they’re staying aggressive on the 2021 recruiting trail — looking to finish the class strong.
3. Philip Riley Decommits, Flips
When Valrico (Fla.) Bloomingdale defensive back Philip Riley decommitted from Notre Dame in September, it was and wasn’t a surprise.
It wasn’t a surprise given that he’s from the state of Washington and moved down to Florida in December 2018, but still hadn’t visited Notre Dame’s campus despite committing in early May. Riley left the West Coast, but always considered it home.
He had second thoughts on his commitment to Notre Dame that he gave four months ago — which came out of the blue after he was considered a Virginia Tech lean — and decided to make the move back west by flipping his commitment to USC on Monday.
It was a surprise given that I made a trip to Central Florida on Sept. 11 to see Riley play live, and all indications from my interview with him (that I will never get to post) were that he was very strong with his Irish commitment, and I didn’t pick up on any concern on the Notre Dame side of things either. But apparently, Riley was already wavering at that point.
Riley’s initial commitment to Notre Dame was a surprise, but in hindsight, his decommitment wasn’t.
4. Continuing Contact With 2022 QBs
Notre Dame offered two class of 2022 signal-callers in August when offensive coordinator Tommy Rees got on phone calls with Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic’s Steven Angeli and Owensboro (Ky.) High’s Gavin Wimsatt.
Angeli and Wimsatt both said after receiving their offers from the Irish that they would stay patient with their recruiting process, and by all accounts, they are sticking to their plan a month later.
During the back-to-back bye weeks, the Irish staff has been able to do plenty of recruiting, which has included Zoom calls with Rees and staff with both prospects.
“It went great,” Angeli said of his call last week with Rees. “I learned a lot of new stuff that I didn’t already know about Notre Dame academically and athletically. The stats and stories that they shared really was great for me and my family to see and hear.”
5. Sept. 1 Was Busy
Sept. 1 was like Christmas morning for recruits in the 2022 class, as it marked the first day college coaches were directly allowed to contact prospective student athletes in their junior year of high school.
2022 recruits were allowed to call coaches, but not the other way around, prior to Sept. 1. Additionally, coaches can text prospects as frequently as they would like to.
Notre Dame’s staff reached out to dozens and dozens of prospects, including messages from head coach Brian Kelly himself.
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