ND received its 2nd verbal for the 2008 class from 6'4", 290lb OL from Penn HS, Mishawaka, Braxton Cave. Has offers from Michigan, IN, and was receiving interest from Florida.......oh no! The first 2 recruits ND gets and they are both on the "poachable list"......damn you Urban!!
Greg Mattison's son played for Mishiwaka Penn High School, so I'm sure Greg is well aware of any good players. But I think this kid is very solid in ND's camp.
I also find it interesting that Notre Dame has recruited two centers in the first three players on a team that will be starting a red-shirt freshman center. Somebody will be moving to DL...
WR Goodman <r>The Irish pick up the 1st WR of the class and he appears to be a "Shark" clone.<br/> <br/> <B><s></s>John Goodman<e></e></B> arrived in South Bend expecting to make a verbal commitment to Notre Dame but wanted a few answers from Charlie Weis first. After the Irish head coach cleared up a couple issues for the standout from Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne, Ind., the 6-foot-5, 190-pound receiver took himself off the recruiting market.<br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> "After the offer first came, I just got real excited I didn't even thinki about committing at first, just about how Notre Dame just offered me," Goodman said. "I got to thinking about how I liked Michigan and Notre Dame a lot. Then I just kept thinking about it. I decided it was going to be Notre Dame because it was the perfect school for me."<br/> <br/> Goodman wanted to know where he fit into Notre Dame's receiver recruiting and what would happen to his Irish offer should he suffer an injury this fall. He said Weis told him that he ranked alongside Michael Floyd and [/db]Dan Buckner[/db] on the Irish board and that a Notre Dame commitment stands regardless of injury.<br/> <br/> "The way he answered them was great," Goodman said. "I liked everything about it."<br/> <br/> Goodman picked Notre Dame over offers from Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, Iowa and Kentucky.<br/> <br/> The junior day let Goodman better know the Irish coaching staff, although he was already familiar with how Notre Dame utilizes tall receivers from Indiana. Watching Jeff Samardzija win back-to-back All-America honors showed Goodman plenty about where he fits into the Notre Dame passing game. Catching a glimpse of Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen didn't hurt either.<br/> <br/> "It looks like the perfect offense for me," Goodman said. "It's because of the certain routes they run, the spread they have and how often they throw the ball around."<br/> <br/> Goodman met with at least one future teammate during the recruiting visit, walking the Notre Dame campus with offensive lineman Braxston Cave, who also committed during the junior day. Goodman also spent time with Floyd and his Cretin-Derham Hall teammate Joe Schafer, a 6-5, 265-pound offensive tackle.<br/> <br/> Not only was Goodman happy to leave Notre Dame as an Irish commitment, he was struck by how quickly he wrapped up the recruiting process.<br/> <br/> "No way, I didn't even think about this," Goodman said about the prospect of ending his recruitment in early March. "Telling other coaches is going to be hard, but this lets me focus on my senior season. It's great that I've got the next five years of my life planned."<br/> <br/> Goodman didn't need a reminder from Weis about Notre Dame's new policy with verbal commitments. On Signing Day Weis said a commitment means that prospects aren't visiting other schools.<br/> <br/> "He didn't say much about that," Goodman said. "I'm committed. I'm staying with my commitment and I'm not going to switch schools. He probably knew that, so he didn't have to say anything."</r>
Meyers was at South Bend for Jr. Day this past weekend. He came away very impressed with the Irish. The Gators and the Irish are 1-2 on his preference list. His dad played ball with the Gators, but his best friends brother is Irish center John Sullivan. The Gators want him as a FB and the Irish want him for LB, he really liked the Pro look that the Irish defense has with Corwin Brown's NFL background. We'll See!!
Terry... <t>The encouraging thing to me is the obvious 100% mission to load up on defense in the 08 class. Seems like every single day there are two or three new top prospects ND is involved with. Won't be a lack of effort if the 08 class falls short on that side of the ball.<br/> I really like the new receiver they got from Indiana and all the top programs that were after him as well.</t>
Recruiting <r>Larry,<br/> <br/> I think you are right, I've noticed the same thing. CW has already offered more scholorhips now than he did last year by this time and a lot of them are as you said, on the D side of the ball. I think he has learned his lesson on the so-called verbal and silent commits also. I've seen comments from the 3 kids thus far stating that they are not going to visit any other schools and that they understood what their commitment really meant. <br/> <br/> We came up with a very good class by anybodys standards last year, just short on the high end D players. Early on this year though, it looks like CW has learned some lessons on the recruiting front. <br/> <br/> Also, Corwin Brown may eventually turn out to be one of our best recruiters. He has played a big role in the 3 thus far and he seems to be well liked by the defensive players ND has made offers to thus far. <E></E></r>
El.... <t>Agree. Brown looks to be solid and must revamp this defense as I still feel the key to Charlie having great success at ND is how well and quickly he can get the defense respectable and I don't call last year respectable. I know they really want that LB in the Chicago area plus they are all over the map on defensive linemen.</t>
Sean Cwynar a NT/DT from Woodstock Illinois has commited to the Irish. Making it 4 so far for the Irish!! Charlie shoring up the defense, and Corwin Brown is making a difference on the recruiting trail!! Cwynar NT/DT Golic OT Cave OG Goodman WR Note that 3 are from the Irish neighborhood...ie Illinois and Indiana and one is a legacy. Terry
DT recruit <t>Terry,<br/> <br/> RE: Cwynar. This is a nice one to get on board early. First of all he's a DT!!!!! Secondly, he one of the top DTs in the country(listed as one of the 5 DTs in Rivals 250 to watch list), and it also shows that Corwin Brown may be one of the best recruiters we have!!! <br/> <br/> On a side note, this kid is from Illinois, that recruiting jugarnaut of the 2007 recruiting season. <br/> <br/> Notre Dame picked up their fourth verbal commitment today from 6-foot-4, 283-pound defensive end Sean Cwynar, a Marian Central Catholic product. Cwynar had recently picked up his 13th offer, but had been leaning heavily towards the Irish for quite some time now and decided to make things official on a return visit to South Bend today.<br/> <br/> “My decision to commit to Notre Dame really came down to a great number of factors,” Cwynar said. “The first thing about Notre Dame with me is that you’re getting an Ivy League education. They’re really the only school you can find that has that combination of excellence both in the classroom and on the field. Their business school is ranked third in the country and I plan to major in business management so that I can eventually take over one of the family businesses.”<br/> <br/> “Another thing is just the tradition and fan base that is a part of Notre Dame football,” Cwynar explained. “It’s really hard to even put into words what it is that makes Notre Dame what it is, but there is just something very special there. When you walk around the campus and see things like Touchdown Jesus, the Basilica, the Grotto and the Golden Dome you can just feel the tradition that follows the school in the air. We watched a video on the football program and the following that Notre Dame has is really amazing. The fans are as passionate as they come and really support the team at the highest levels. Watching the players walk from the Basilica to the stadium on game day with all of those fans lined up to cheer them on was really special. It’s just the real deal there.”<br/> <br/> With a new hire at defensive coordinator in Coach Corwin Brown comes a new defensive philosophy to South Bend. Brown intends to run “3-4 personnel” which one would have to assume will have many similarities to what he learned under both Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini during his tenure in the NFL. With his rare combination of size and athleticism, Cwynar is a seemingly perfect fit at defensive end and a big step towards re-building a defense that has fallen on hard times as of late.<br/> <br/> “I’ll be playing defensive end in their 3-4 which is different from what I’m used to coming from a four man front in high school,” Cwynar stated. “Once Coach (Corwin) Brown and I broke down film together this weekend it really helped me become completely comfortable, and frankly excited, about what I can do in that scheme. I like it because there are a lot of things I can do with my size and speed in terms of dropping into coverage, playing contain, crashing against the run and rushing the passer from my position.”<br/> <br/> “The thing I really liked about Coach (Corwin) Brown is that he wasn’t trying to sell me when we talked. He was a genuinely nice person who just gave me the facts and didn’t speak in a negative light about any other programs I was looking at. He just helped to answer all of my questions and make me feel comfortable with Notre Dame in general. The coaching staff was definitely another reason why I decided to make this decision. Coach (Rob) Ianello was the other person I spent most of my time with and he’s also a great guy. In fact, I really got along well with all of the coaching staff from top to bottom.”<br/> <br/> “Finally, I really wanted to hop on board early and help reel in some more defensive recruits to help them rebuild,” Cwynar added. “I saw what Jimmy Clausen did last year with helping Notre Dame bring in some big names and want to do the same on the defensive side of the ball. I exchanged phone numbers with some other prospects at the junior day and will be keeping in touch and hopefully I’ll be able to help the staff bring in some more players on defense.”<br/> <br/> As mentioned, Cwynar held 13 scholarships from schools around the country, but none of that came into play with his decision. As he simply stated to Scout.com “it was just Notre Dame” when it came down to making his decision.<br/> <br/> As a junior, Cwynar made 102 tackles and 17 sacks from his defensive end position. He earned All-State, Academic All-State and All-Conference honors and was named Defensive Player of the Year for his conference.</t>
Wow... <t>I have not even heard of this one. The worm is turning of that side of the football. Thanks for the update.</t>
Despite its Irish sound, the name Cwynar is German in origin... http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?&fid=10&ln=Cwynar&fn=&yr=1920
Cwynars <r>Gotta love it when they make statements like this:<br/> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Guess CW is really telling these kids not to give him their committtment unless they are 100% sure. Still doesn't mean they won't/can't change their mind but CW obviously didn't like getting burned on the last class. <E>8)</E></r>
LB is a big need this year. Here is where we stand. <u><b>Offered</b></u> Brendan Beal Arthur Brown Steve Filer - ND Leads Darius Fleming - ND Leads Shayne Hale Anthony McDonald - ND Leads David Posluszny - ND Leads Andrew Sweat - ND Leads <u><b>Waiting for a offer</b></u> Brett Nagel - I would think ND's if offered Jon Major - ND's if offered Eric LeGrand Michael Zordich
The... <t>McDonald kid really looks good on film. Great size and can run. Considering his Dad went to USC that stills worries me but off his comments and pending trip to SB it looks pretty good. Maybe JO'Co can get out to see him play this fall for one of his reports if we get a commit from him.</t>