Notre Dame's push to college football's early signing period hit its first significant speed bump Thursday, when four-star running back Dylan Edwards ditched his verbal commitment to the Irish.
The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Edwards had been committed to Notre Dame since early August. The Irish flipped his prior commitment from Kansas State during the summer.
Edwards, who Rivals ranks as the No. 1 all-purpose back and No. 133 overall in the 2023 class, hosted Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and running backs coach Deland McCullough for an in-home visit Tuesday.
SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS TO STAY IN THE KNOW ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS
JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON THE INSIDER LOUNGE MESSAGE BOARD
That was the same day Edwards reported a scholarship offer from Colorado under new head coach Deion Sanders. The Edwards family has ties to Sanders from their time in Dallas when Edwards' father, Leon, coached in a youth football league with Sanders.
Edwards, a product of Derby (Kan.) High, continued to show interest in Kansas State as well. He made an unofficial visit to Kansas State on Nov. 5 during its 34-27 loss to Texas.
"I am grateful for the Notre Dame coaching staff for recruiting me and giving me the opportunity to play at such a prestigious university," Edwards wrote in part of a message shared on social media. "I want to give a huge thanks to Coach Deland for believing in my talents and being a good mentor to me through this process. I have nothing but respect for Notre Dame and I wish them the best. But I will be DE-COMMITTING and signing elsewhere December 21st."
The speedy Edwards rushed for 1,900 yards and 32 touchdowns on 203 carries in 12 games as a senior at Derby. He also caught 15 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns and returned one kickoff and one punt return for touchdowns. Edwards was clocked in the 40-yard dash with a time of 4.38 seconds.
The loss of Edwards dropped Notre Dame's class to 26 verbal commitments and left the Irish with two running back commitments: four-star recruits Jeremiyah Love and Jayden Limar. Notre Dame received a commitment Wednesday from three-star athlete Brandyn Hillman, who could end up playing any number of positions, including running back.
Notre Dame may have gotten too greedy at the position and perhaps made it easier to walk away from an Irish commitment. Limar has recently been entertaining interest from Oregon and UCLA as well.
The Irish didn't drop a spot in the 2023 class rankings with the loss of Edwards. Notre Dame still sits third behind Georgia (23 commits) and Alabama (24). Only the top 20 commitments in each class count in the Rivals class rankings calculation. Notre Dame has one five-star commitment and 19 four-star commitments.
If Love and Limar sign with Notre Dame, which can first happen during the three-day early signing period starting Dec. 21, the Irish are still on pace to have seven scholarship running backs on next year's roster with current junior Chris Tyree, sophomores Audric Estimé and Logan Diggs and freshmen Jadarian Price and Gi'Bran Payne.
---------------------------------------------------------------
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND, @TJamesND and @ByKyleKelly.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports
