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Notre Dame’s Offensive Commitment Drought Is Over

Many Notre Dame fans have been frustrated by the Fighting Irish’s lack of new commitments on the offensive side of the ball in recent months.

Part of that is due to the early success they had early in the cycle, picking up pledges at quarterback, wide receiver, tight end and offensive tackle. The Irish have limited spots left on offense.

It is also in part due to the fact that the coronavirus pandemic wiped out recruiting visits from mid-March — a week before the Irish were going to have a massive weekend with several top offensive targets — to present day.

Notre Dame did land a pledge from Chicago Marist offensive lineman Pat Coogan, who picked the Irish over LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma and many others, on April 15.

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Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees
The Fighting Irish picked up just their second pledge on offense since last October.

But before Coogan, the Irish’s last offensive pledge was last October, if you don’t include the additions of graduate transfers Ben Skowronek, a receiver from Northwestern, and Trevor Speights, a running back from Stanford.

It is fair to point out that the other two traditional Midwest powers are faced with the same issue have been picking up offensive commitments, while Notre Dame hasn’t. In fact, 17 of Michigan’s 19 total commitments have come since late March — six of whom will play offense.

Ohio State has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, and since the calendar turned to 2020 the Buckeyes have landed three offensive recruits.

With the addition of Fridley (Minn.) Totino Grace offensive tackle Joe Alt, the offensive commitment “drought” is over for Notre Dame.

Alt committed to the Fighting Irish over Iowa — a school he’s been to a handful of times and the university his father, John Alt, played for — and Minnesota, the local option which he’s also very familiar with.

He picked Notre Dame, though, a school he’s never stepped foot on campus of, over two schools he knows very well.

One can reasonably say that Notre Dame is a step above Iowa and Minnesota in terms of being a powerhouse in academics and football, but during the pandemic so many prospects are making early commitments to schools they’re very comfortable with.

Alt isn’t exactly doing that.

Again, he’s never been to South Bend. He has family members who went to school at Notre Dame, and his parents are also familiar with the university, but it’s not their decision. The easy pick would’ve been going with his father’s alma mater or the local choice.

Credit should be given to the Notre Dame offensive staff for overcoming these obstacles and landing Alt.

Alt isn’t a five-star prospect. He’s a project — there’s no denying that. But this still should be considered a solid recruiting win given the context of the situation.

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