What we learned about Notre Dame recruiting in September
September was a very busy month for Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish coaching staff. BlueandGold.com gives you five things it learned from the busy month.
1. Notre Dame off to hot start in 2023 class
Notre Dame didn’t add any new players to its 2022 recruiting class in September, but two talented prospects joined the Irish’s 2023 commitment list. The new commitments show Notre Dame’s national recruiting power.
The Irish landed a pledge from Concord (Calif.) De La Salle’s Cooper Flanagan, a four-star prospect and the No. 17 tight end per Rivals, pledged to the Irish over the likes of Florida State, Michigan, Tennessee, Utah and Washington. After Notre Dame offered Flanagan in August, it was all but a guarantee that he’d end up choosing the Fighting Irish.
“My family and I knew that if Notre Dame offered, then I’d likely commit,” Flanagan told BlueandGold.com. “It is my dream school. I knew deep down that I wanted to go to Notre Dame.
“The combination of academics and athletics, the tradition they have there, the brotherhood and it’s similar to De La Salle — all of that played a big part.”
While landing Flanagan was no surprise, the Irish going into Miami to land Gulliver Prep running back Sedrick Irvin Jr. over the Florida powers and Michigan State — his father’s alma mater – was an eyebrow raiser. But at the end of the day, Notre Dame offered Irvin everything he was looking for in a school.
“It’s always been one of my favorite schools, and then getting a chance to get up there, visit the staff and meet Coach [Brian] Kelly and Coach [Lance] Taylor — I knew those were people I wanted to surround myself with,” Irvin said. “They’re recruiting guys like me to be part of a brotherhood — one that I can enjoy and grow in. They’re big on the type of people they recruit.
“The combination of the tradition in both academics and football is unmatched.”
The Irish went from coast to coast to land these commitments; over 3,000 miles separates these players’ cities. Notre Dame will go wherever the talent is.
2. Irish expand 2022 board
It had been about two months that Notre Dame extended a new offer in the 2022 class before Park City (Utah) High athlete Carson Tabaracci received the good news from Irish special teams coordinator Brian Polian Sept. 16.
Tabaracci has been fantastic through seven games of his senior season, rushing for 814 yards and 10 touchdowns on 106 carries. Is he a running back at the next level? Tight end? Linebacker? There’s no clear answer at this point, but Notre Dame sees Tabaracci as a jumbo athlete with a lean towards him playing an H-back role.
Notre Dame joined Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC and others on Tabaracci’s offer list. The Irish became an instant contender after it offered.
“It’s a special place,” Tabaracci said of Notre Dame. “They take football very seriously, and it’s a great program.”
3. October shaping up to be a monster month
Notre Dame will host at least nine recruits in the top 120 national rankings in the 2023 class when the Irish host Cincinnati on Saturday. And it’s not even supposed to be the marquee visit weekend of the month.
Notre Dame will have five-star athlete Alex “Sonny” Styles on campus this weekend. He plans to visit South Bend at least once more this month too.
Styles has become good friends with Drayk Bowen, the nation’s No. 22 player and No. 2 outside linebacker. They met each other at Clemson a couple weeks ago. They’ll see each other again this Saturday and at the end of the month when Notre Dame hosts North Carolina.
Rivals100 recruits Dante Moore (QB) and wide receiver Carnell Tate (WR) visit Notre Dame together this weekend for a second time. This will be Moore’s third visit to Notre Dame and Tate’s fourth trip to South Bend in total.
The expected visitor list for the USC game Oct. 23 is bonkers with talent. Notre Dame commits in 2022 and 2023, plus top targets in both classes, will be on campus that weekend. The North Carolina weekend will be a good one too.
The Irish have quite the opportunity to close on elite prospects.
4. Notre Dame hosted two official visitors
Notre Dame hosted Pike Road (Ala.) High’s Quinshon Judkins, a three-star recruit and the nation’s No. 30 running back, for an official visit when the Irish played Toledo Sept. 11.
However, he visited Ole Miss for an official the following weekend and committed to the Rebels Sept. 29.
Amarillo (Texas) Tascosa’s Major Everhart, a three-star player and the No. 13 all-purpose back in America, tripped to Notre Dame for Purdue weekend Sept. 18. He remains a big target for the Fighting Irish as the staff rounds out the 2022 class. Notre Dame sees him as a slot receiver who can be an asset on jet sweeps and in the backfield as well.
“They’re all a bunch of great, genuine guys,” Everhart said. “I definitely clicked with them and understood how they’d use me in their program. I liked that too.”
Everhart has a top seven schools list of TCU, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Baylor, Washington State, Penn State and Colorado.
5. The Amorion Walker saga continues
Notre Dame has a pledge from Ponchatoula (La.) High’s Amorion Walker, a three-star prospect and the nation’s No. 49 “athlete,” but he’s not done looking at other options.
The biggest threat at this point seems to be Michigan, a school that he visited in September. He has been to Michigan twice already, while he has only been to Notre Dame once.
The likes of Alabama, LSU and Kansas State are still involved with Walker. The Irish are still battling to hold on to the Under Armour All-American, but there’s no telling how this saga will end.
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