How Important Has In-State Recruiting Been To Notre Dame Under Brian Kelly?
For most top-tier college football programs, regional and in-state recruiting is a major priority. Each of the top-five teams in the current Rivals Team Recruiting Rankings signed at least one in-state prospect in 2020.
Alabama's class includes nine in-state prospects, while Ohio State has eight and LSU has six. Surprisingly, Georgia took four in-state players in 2020 and Clemson, which as the No. 1 overall recruiting class, signed one player from South Carolina, but six from the state of Georgia, which is 45 minutes from the Tiger's campus.
Notre Dame's 2020 recruiting class does not include a single in-state player or anyone from Michigan, which borders South Bend.
The Fighting Irish did sign Northwestern graduate transfer wide receiver Bennett Skowronek in December, who is from Fort Wayne, Ind., but a player Notre Dame didn't offer in high school.
Much of this is due to the lack of top football talent in Indiana. In Brian Kelly's 10 recruiting cycles at Notre Dame, there have been 41 four-star prospects in Indiana and three five-stars.
Compare that to the state of Georgia, which had 29 four-stars and seven five-stars in 2020 alone.
Florida, which is the state that has produced the most Notre Dame recruits in the last decade with 29, had 57 four-stars and four five-stars in 2020, but the Fighting Irish have not taken a player from the Sunshine State since 2018.
Despite the lack of top-tier prospects in Indiana, Notre Dame has signed 15 in-state players during Kelly's tenure, including two of the five-star players in 2013 linebacker Jaylon Smith and 2012 quarterback Gunner Kiel.
For the most part, Indiana has been an important state for Notre Dame under Kelly, especially at certain positions.
- Linebacker (six): Jaylon Smith (2013), Drue Tranquill (2014), Asmar Bilal (2015), Josh Barajas (2015), Paul Moala (2018) and Jack Kiser (2019)
- Defensive Line (three): Tony Springmann (2011), Sheldon Day (2012) and Brandon Tiassum (2015)
- Safety (two): John Turner (2012) and Mykelti Williams (2015)
- Wide Receiver: Justin Brent (2014) and Daniel Smith (2010)
- Quarterback (one): Gunner Kiel (2012)
- Offensive Line (one): Nick Martin (2011)
Linebacker
Indiana has done an excellent job of producing linebackers for Notre Dame, with three of them starting multiple seasons in South Bend.
The most decorated is Smith. He is the highest-ranked recruit Kelly has signed and was the No. 3 overall player according to Rivals out of high school. He started all three seasons at Notre Dame, won the Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker in 2015 and would have been a top-five pick in the 2016 NFL Draft if not for a devastating injury in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State.
Tranquill and Bilal both started a season at Rover before moving inside to Buck Linebacker during their fifth year. Tranquill was third on the team in total tackles in both 2017 and 2018 and end up a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers.
Bilal struggled as a senior at Rover but was outstanding in his fifth year at Buck, finishing third on the team in total tackles with 79.
Both Moala and Kiser are considered Rovers but could move inside, and both have a high upside to the point that it wouldn't be surprising if both end up multi-year starters.
For now, the only bust of the group was Barajas, a Rivals250 player out of high school that barely saw the field in two seasons at Notre Dame and then transferred to Illinois State.
* It's cheating a little bit to include both Tranquill and Moala as linebackers because they were recruited as safeties and were then moved to the Rover position, but it seemed more important to prioritize where they finished their collegiate careers.
Defensive Line
Day had a very productive four-year career at Notre Dame, leading the team in TFLs in 2015 with 15.5. He also had four sacks that season.
In the 2016 NFL Draft, Day was taken in the fourth round by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Springmann and Tiassum did not see the field much in South Bend.
Only healthy for one full season as a reserve in 2012, Springmann's career was hampered by injury, and he ultimately had five surgeries.
While at Notre Dame, Tiassum barely saw the field and finishing his career at Urbana University as a graduate transfer.
Safety
Neither Williams nor Turner played much for Notre Dame.
Williams was a highly decorated player out of high school but sat the entirety of his freshman year before transferring to Northern Illinois.
Turner finished his career with the Fighting Irish, but he mostly contributed on special teams.
Wide Receiver
Smith is the only player Kelly has signed from South Bend and he may have exceeded expectations at Notre Dame. Still, one could argue that both he and Brent are more well-known for their romantic relationships than on-the-field success.
Playing all four seasons at Notre Dame, Smith mostly contributed on special teams, but he did have 58 career receiving yards on eight total catches.
Brent was considered a high-four-star recruit out of high school, but he never panned out and finished his career at Nevada, where he played defense and also joined the basketball team for a season.
Quarterback
As the other five-star prospect Notre Dame signed out of Indiana, Kiel's career at Notre Dame was short-lived. After being fourth on the depth chart behind Everett Golson, Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix in 2012, Kiel transferred to Cincinnati the following Spring.
With the Bearcats, Kiel had an excellent season in 2014, passing for 3,254 yards and 31 touchdowns, but injuries plagued the rest of his career and he ended up the third-string quarterback as a fifth-year senior in 2016.
Offensive Line
Martin, like his brother, was a steal for Notre Dame. He was a three-year starter at center and offensive guard and ended up a second-round pick by the Houston Texans in the 2016 NFL Draft.
As a fifth-year senior in 2015, Notre Dame rushed for 207.6 yards per game, which was the team's highest mark since 1998.
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