Part II: What Would Kelly Change About The Recruiting Process?

One of the most interesting parts of Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's appearance on Podward Notre Dame yesterday was when host Tony Simeone asked Kelly if he could change one thing about the recruiting process, what would it be?

Notre Dame has already benefited from the early signing period, which allows the program to lock up its players much sooner in the process and prevent other teams from trying to poach Fighting Irish commits.

So what would Kelly change? It stems from his experiences hitting the recruiting trail last month.

"I was on the road, but it's an evaluation period so I can't have contact," Kelly said. "You're allowed what is called a 'bump.' Now, a bump means you can bump into the prospective student-athlete, shake their hand, say 'hello', a couple of nice things and then you got to move on."

But Kelly's issue is that he often feels pressure to do more than that, which would be an NCAA recruiting violation.

"Most don't want that," he said. "When you go into the high school, they would like you to sit down with the recruit and spend time with them. I choose not to. I want to follow the NCAA rules, but it's very difficult when you put the head coach in that position, that it's a 'bump', and it's not being followed across the board."

This, of course, could create a decisive advantage for another school if they had more face-to-face time with a prospect than the other coaches trying to recruit him.

For instance, Kelly visited Weddington High School in Matthews, North Carolina, home of prized all-purpose running back recruit Will Shipley, on the same day as Alabama head coach Nick Saban and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.

In no way am I claiming this actually happened, but it could be very impactful if one head coach was able to sit down and have a meeting with Shipley while the others did not.

That's why Kelly would prefer that the NCAA make adjustments to their legislation.

"I would like them to change that when the head coach can go on the road, they're allowed contact," he said. "That's the best way to do it because the head coach is not allowed on the road very often. When he is on the road, you should let the head coach contact that individual, get a sense and feel for that person, so you can start making some decisions as to if he's the right fit for your university."

In addition to visiting Shipley's high school recently, Kelly also made stops to see a number of other prospects the Fighting Irish are prioritizing, including Rocco Spindler, Garrett Dellinger, Jakailin Johnson and others.

On Podward Notre Dame, Kelly said that some people reading about his travels have the impression that he's on the road more often in the past, which he claims is not the case.

"There seems to be this narrative out there that I'm working harder this year," Kelly said. "I'm working at the same pace that I've always been working."

Instead, he says he's simply able to spend more time seeing 2021 recruits than he would have been able to in the past because of the early signing period, and those are the players that fans are the most interested in following.

In the past, Kelly says he would have spent January checking in on commits who were about to sign in early February. Now those players are locked up in December, so Kelly can move on to the next class.

"All those other guys are committed, nobody cared about him anymore," he said. "They're already committed."

This is, of course, in part a response to a South Bend Tribune article published in January where 2020 players wide receiver Jalen McMillian and safety Lathan Ransom said that their lack of a relationship with Kelly was a factor in them picking other schools.

It's hard to say how much truth there is to Kelly's statement. Maybe he is on the road this January as he was in years past. May he hit the trail harder than ever before.

What's clear is, even if it has no impact on his actions, Kelly is aware of the narrative.

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