Notre Dame’s ‘All-Decommit Team’ Of The Brian Kelly Era
Typing the word “decommit” evokes the red squiggly line in Microsoft Word. It must be added to the software’s dictionary.
Anyone who writes about college athletics did so long ago.
It is a word unique to recruiting yet so broad in its description. Decommitments happen every year. They come in many permutations.
Some are wild stories. Some are expected, sometimes even mutual. Some are forced. Others are complete surprises. No school is truly spared, because all of them engage in the act of meddling with recruits committed to other schools and recruitments don’t end with a verbal commitment.
Notre Dame is no exception to any of this.
Since Brian Kelly was hired in 2010, 37 players have made a Fighting Irish pledge but later backed off. Three ended up picking Notre Dame a second time: Stephon Tuitt, Aaron Lynch and Braden Lenzy.
On the heels of my All-Flip Team, here is the All-Decommit Team of the Kelly era, the collection of the best 11 offensive and defensive players who were Notre Dame commits but ended up playing elsewhere.
The quick numbers on the team: six draft picks, two national champions (a third including honorable mentions), nine players who signed NFL contracts and six active NFLers.
Some disclaimers:
• I made Tuitt, Lynch and Lenzy ineligible for this team, because it felt weird to put someone who played at Notre Dame on a team based on players who didn’t. They were eligible for the flip team.
• Like those three, Eddie Vanderdoes falls under both the flip and decommit team, but in the other direction. Since he never played for Notre Dame, I didn’t put him on the flip team. He is eligible for this one. Even though he signed with the Irish, he never enrolled.
• Though the biggest factor in selection was college performance, I factored in status as a recruit and impact of the decommitment as well to fill some spots and break some ties.
• Notre Dame has only lost three offensive linemen to decommitment since 2010, so the offense is built to crush a seven-on-seven tournament but fail in regular football. Of the three, one never played in college and the other is still in high school. There is only one offensive lineman on the team, but he might be its most accomplished player.
• Notre Dame has not lost a scholarship kicker or punter to a flip, so the position was excluded.
OFFENSE
Quarterback
Blake Barnett
Where he signed: Alabama
Class: 2015
Barnett, the No. 41 overall player in his class, was Notre Dame’s supposed game-changing quarterback recruit, but flipped to Alabama before his senior year. Notre Dame ended up signing the player two spots below him in the quarterback rankings, Brandon Wimbush.
Barnett lost his starting job to Jalen Hurts early in the 2016 season, transferred to Arizona State and then again to South Florida after playing two games for the Sun Devils. He threw 16 touchdowns in parts of two seasons as a starter at USF.
Running Back
Giovanni Bernard
Where he signed: North Carolina
Class: 2010
Bernard committed to Charlie Weis during his senior season. He didn’t outright decommit upon Weis’ firing and gave Kelly a chance to pursue him, but he formally reopened in January 2010 and picked UNC over Oregon State.
It proved to be astute. Bernard had two straight 1,200-yard, 40-catch seasons and with combined 31 touchdowns and was a 2013 second-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals, for whom he still plays.
Elijah Hood
Where he signed: North Carolina
Class: 2014
North Carolina flipped Hood, a former five-star recruit, right before his senior season and kept him in state. He was the star of the 2015 Tar Heels’ offense, running for 17 touchdowns and nearly 1,500 yards to help them reach the ACC title game. His numbers dipped in 2016 and he was a seventh-round pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2017. He played in the XFL in 2020.
Markese Stepp
Where he signed: USC
Class: 2018
The four-star recruit and Indianapolis native popped for Notre Dame after his sophomore year, but they parted ways after his senior season. He signed with USC shortly after and ran for 307 yards in a complimentary role last season.
Justice Hayes
Where he signed: Michigan
Class: 2011
The impact as a college player was small, but Hayes is worth a spot on the team because of his lofty recruiting ranking and the lack of other more proven options to fill this spot.
Hayes was the No. 3 running back in his class and changed his commitment from Notre Dame to Michigan in November 2010. He ran for 302 yards in his three seasons with the Wolverines and took a graduate transfer to Southern Mississippi, where he was a backup as well.
Wide Receiver
Deonte Greenberry
Where he signed: Houston
Class: 2012
The ultimate sour signing day surprise of the Kelly era. Greenberry flipped to Houston on National Signing Day 2012 the morning after telling Notre Dame’s staff he was planning to send in his letter of intent. Notre Dame initially thought it held off Houston after he took a late visit there. The Irish had Greenberry’s cousin, cornerback Tee Shepherd, already in the fold too.
Instead, the Fresno, Calif., native and top-50 player had 2,612 yards and 20 touchdowns in three years with the Cougars, highlighted by a 1,200-yard sophomore year. Greenberry went undrafted in 2015 and signed with the Dallas Cowboys, but never played in a game.
Geordon Porter
Where he signed: Arizona State
Class: 2018
Porter decided to stay on the West Coast and picked Arizona State on late signing day after initially choosing Notre Dame during his senior season. He had six catches as a redshirt freshman and is a frontrunner for a starting spot at wide receiver in 2020.
Deion Colzie
Where he signed: Uncommitted
Class: 2021
Colzie hasn’t picked his new destination yet and Notre Dame is still recruiting him, but it’s unlikely he ends up in South Bend. Though he hasn’t played in college, he earned a spot on this team because of his status as a top-75 recruit who left a big dent in Notre Dame’s 2021 class.
Jordan Pouncey
Where he signed: Texas
Class: 2017
Pouncy landed December offers from Miami and Texas and decommitted to take visits to both. He picked the Longhorns on National Signing Day. He had two career catches for Texas and transferred to Florida this offseason.
Tight End
Clay Burton
Where he signed: Florida
Class: 2011
Burton was a linebacker recruit when he committed to Notre Dame and flipped to Florida late in the 2011 cycle, but he became a tight end in college. He is the only option here. After making the position switch, Burton had 21 catches in his college career.
Offensive Line
Taylor Decker
Where he signed: Ohio State
Class: 2012
Decker is only offensive lineman on the team, but perhaps its best player. After taking a reserve role as a freshman, he was three-year starter for the Buckeyes and the left tackle on the 2014 national title team. Decker was a first-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2016 and is their starting left tackle.
Notre Dame lost Decker in January 2012, when he flipped after an official visit to Ohio State.
DEFENSE
Defensive End
Blake Lueders
Where he signed: Stanford
Class: 2010
Lueders initially stayed committed to Notre Dame after Weis’ firing, but flipped in January 2010 after an official visit to Stanford. The four-star Indianapolis-area product had 14.0 career tackles for loss as a sub-package player. He’s now an investment banker.
David Perkins
Where he signed: Ohio State
Class: 2012
Perkins’ Ohio State career ended after one year, but he became an All-Missouri Valley Conference selection at Illinois State in 2015. He was a two-year starter and had 20.5 sacks for the Redbirds, who made the Football Championship Subdivision championship game in 2014. He signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent.
A four-star recruit who played at South Bend’s Washington High School, Perkins decommitted during the 2011 season.
Honorable mention: Richard Yeargin III (Clemson)
Defensive Tackle
Eddie Vanderdoes
Where he signed: UCLA
Class: 2013
Arguably Kelly’s biggest National Signing Day win ended in a messy split when Vanderdoes, a five-star recruit, asked out of his letter of intent and enrolled at UCLA. He was a starter each year on campus, though he missed nearly all of 2015 due to injury, and totaled 13.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He was a third-round pick in 2017 and now plays for the Houston Texans.
Matt Dickerson
Where he signed: UCLA
Class: 2014
UCLA took another highly touted defensive line recruit the following cycle, but with less consternation. Dickerson flipped in December 2013, citing family reasons, and became a three-year contributor and two-year starter. He signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted rookie and has played in eight career games.
Linebacker
Alex Anzalone
Where he signed: Florida
Class: 2013
This recruitment had an odd ending. Anzalone went to the Under Armour All-America Game as a Notre Dame commit and planned to enroll early. Instead, he flipped to Florida and enrolled in classes a day later.
Anzalone became a starter as a senior and was a third-round pick in the 2017 draft. In three years with the New Orleans Saints, he has made 11 starts.
Pete Werner
Where he signed: Ohio State
Class: 2017
The Buckeyes flipped Werner in December 2016, prying the four-star recruit out of his home state. Oddly enough, he and high school teammate Markese Stepp were both once committed to Notre Dame at the same time and neither ended up there.
Werner made an impact as a freshman backup and has been a starter at inside linebacker the last two seasons, totaling 122 tackles and 13.0 tackles for loss.
Honorable mention: Danny Mattingly (Oregon)
Cornerback
Ronald Darby
Where he signed: Florida State
Class: 2012
Notre Dame lost Darby, a top-75 player, a month before signing day in 2012. Turns out, they lost a three-year star too. After picking Florida State on National Signing Day, Darby broke up eight passes for the ACC’s best scoring defense and was a Freshman All-American in 2012. He started the next two years and won a national title in 2013.
The Buffalo Bills took Darby in the second round of the 2015 draft. He now plays for the Washington Redskins.
Paulson Adebo
Where he signed: Stanford
Class: 2017
Adedo, a four-star athlete, landed a Stanford offer in the weeks leading up to National Signing Day and flipped about a week later. He settled at cornerback and has earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors the last two seasons. He returned for his senior year and is considered an early round draft prospect.
Bennett Okotcha
Where he signed: Oklahoma
Class: 2011
Oklahoma swiped the three-star Dallas-area native on National Signing Day, two months after he committed to Notre Dame. He transferred to Texas-San Antonio after redshirting in 2011 and became a three-year starter. He had six interceptions and 22 passes broken up and was All-Conference USA as a senior.
The Titans signed Okotcha as an undrafted free agent in 2016. He retired a year later.
Safety
Elijah Hicks
Where he signed: California
Class: 2017
Notre Dame only held Hicks’ commitment for a couple months late in the 2016 cycle. The four-star recruit stayed out west and flipped to Cal in January 2017. He was a three-year starter at cornerback, totaling 9.0 tackles for loss and 10 passes broken up. He is expected to move to safety in 2020.
Kalon Gervin
Where he signed: Michigan State
Class: 2018
Gervin is a cornerback for Michigan State, but he’s moving to safety here because he has had a more productive career than Prentice McKinney, the only pure safety Notre Dame has lost under Kelly.
Gervin, the No. 124 player in his class, committed in January of his junior but didn’t shut down his process. The Detroit native backed off his pledge that spring and picked Michigan State during the early signing period. He redshirted as a freshman and made one start in 2019.
Other Notes
One they’d love to have back: Eddie Vanderdoes
Vanderdoes would have given Notre Dame some punch in the interior and been a natural Louis Nix III replacement. From 2013-16, Notre Dame never held opponents to below 4.0 yards per carry or finished in the top 70 in rushing defense.
One they didn’t miss: Chris Martin
Martin was a five-star recruit in the 2010 class who backed out of his commitment when Weis was fired. He never gave Kelly and his staff much of a chance and picked Cal less than two weeks after they were hired.
It turned out to be for the best. Martin transferred to Florida before enrolling at Call. He then went to two junior colleges and reunited with Weis at Kansas, but was dismissed after an arrest on armed robbery charges.
More:
• Only one of the 35 ex-commits — Jamel James — signed with a non-Power Five school.
• Eight transferred schools at least once (not including Lynch).
• Michigan has been the most frequent destination for ex-Notre Dame commits since 2010. It has signed three and has one committed. Ohio State has also signed three. (Florida State has signed two, but also briefly had Lynch committed).
• Notre Dame had zero decommitments in the 2016 cycle.
Here are the other one-time commitments who parted ways with Notre Dame since Weis’ firing, excluding the three recommits:
2011: OT Jordan Prestwood (Florida State)
2012: RB Jamel James (Texas State)
2015: S Prentice McKinney (Oklahoma)
2017: DE Robert Beal (Georgia) and DE Donovan Jeter (Michigan)
2019: QB Cade McNamara (Michigan) and WR T.J. Sheffield (Purdue)
2020: DB Landon Bartleson (arrested after signing)
2021: OL Greg Crippen (Michigan)
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