During Notre Dame’s train wreck 4-8 season in 2016, there was equal consternation about the recruiting class during that cycle falling apart.
Indeed, six different players who had originally committed to the Fighting Irish opted to sign with other schools: defensive linemen Robert Beal (Georgia) and Donovan Jeter (Michigan), linebacker Pete Werner (Ohio State), defensive backs Elijah Hicks (Cal) and Paulson Adebo (Stanford), and wide receiver Jordan Pouncey (Texas).
Yet during the wild scramble in January that saw head coach Brian Kelly hire six new on-field assistants and bring in a new strength and conditioning staff, the Irish managed to change the minds of five other players who had committed elsewhere: wide receiver Jafar Armstrong (Missouri), defensive end Kofi Wardlow (Maryland), linebackers Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (Virginia) and Jordan Genmark Heath (Cal), and kicker Jonathan Doerer (Maryland).
Overall, the 21-man group was rated in between No. 11 and No. 20 nationally, where every Notre Dame class since 2014 has been.
