Notre Dame’s 2018 Recruiting Class Can Alter Its Trajectory In 2021
Only once in Brian Kelly’s 12 recruiting cycles at Notre Dame has an Irish signing class matched the 2018 haul’s total.
That year, Notre Dame signed 27 players in a class that finished 11th in Rivals’ team rankings. Not until 2021 did the program hit 27 again. The team is, though, still waiting for the 2018 class’ impact to reflect its size and ranking.
It’s far from a lost cause. The narrative on 2018 isn’t rigid; the credits aren’t written. But after three seasons, a class that included four Rivals100 players has delivered a more modest impact than its individual parts suggested it could. In a year of much transition, Notre Dame needs its seniors-to-be to put their fingerprints on 2021 if it wants to, as Kelly challenged this spring, go from good to great.
Of those 27 signees, nine have transferred. That percentage is not abnormal relative to prior classes. The 2017 group, for instance, had nine of its 21 members transfer. Notre Dame’s 2015 class saw nine of its 24 signees finish their careers elsewhere.
Nor is producing just one three-and-done NFL draft pick (tight end Tommy Tremble) a disappointment. The Irish have not had a class with two early draft entrants since 2013 (Jaylon Smith and Will Fuller).
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