The Notre Dame coaching staff moved in silence and flipped Los Gatos (Calif.) High defensive end Will Schweitzer from his Nebraska commitment on Sunday.
Schweitzer’s pledge moved Notre Dame up a spot in the Rivals team recruiting rankings.
The Fighting Irish came into Sunday with the No. 12 class in the country, and Schweitzer — Rivals’ No. 41 player in California and No. 26 defensive end nationally — added 90 points to its class total.
The Irish leapfrogged North Carolina for the No. 11 spot and now have 1,951 points according to the Rivals formula.
LSU is one spot ahead of the Irish and has 93 more points of head coach Brian Kelly’s class. For further context, Oregon has the No. 5 class and 18 commitments — the same number as Notre Dame — but has 2,259 points.
Ohio State, which has the No. 1 class in the country, has 18 commitments as well and 2,670 total points.
When sorting by average star ranking, Notre Dame has the No. 15 class in the country with an average of 3.39 stars per recruit. The Irish are directly above Utah, Auburn, Michigan and Tennessee, respectively.
For more details on the Rivals rankings formula, click here.
Notre Dame only has a few spots remaining in the 2021 class and are looking to strike big. Atlanta Pace Academy wide receiver Jayden Thomas and Ewa Beach (Hawai’i) Campbell athlete Titus Mokiao-Atimalala are key Irish targets, and their four-star status would give the class ranking a boost.
Schweitzer is commit No. 18 of Notre Dame’s 2021 class and the ninth on defense.
“They have amazing football, great program, storied program and their academics are so valued and I’m a religious man myself, Catholic, so that really played a part as well,” Schweitzer said. “It really felt like the fit for me. I thought Nebraska was a great fit as well, but once Notre Dame came in that really wrapped it up and I knew that was the place.”
Rivals ranks Schweitzer as No. 41 player in California and the nation’s No. 26 weak-side defensive end. Listed at 6-4, 215 pounds, Schweitzer offers the ideal athleticism and skill for the vyper position.
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @ToddBurlage and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.
