Miamisburg is a suburb of Dayton. I saw him play against my old high school his senior year when I happened to be in town. Look at him now!
John Turner from Indianapolis Cathedral committed to Brian Kelly today, he's a 3 star safety prospect. He's a 3 Star prospect who was mainly recruited by MAC schools and a fewer lower echelon B10 schools like IU and Minn. I think with Kelly he's supremely confident in his ability to take 3 star players and develope them. I hope he is right!!
:!: This was a kid that Kelly saw with his own eyes at the ND camp. That is the critical factor. The coach knows exactly what he wants and offers when he sees it. I remember when everyone was outraged years ago, because the Irish offered some red-headed kid that no one had ever heard of and who didn't have any offers from anywhere. His name was Rocky Boiman and he had a great career at Notre Dame before playing with: 1. Tennessee Titans 2. Dallas Cowboys 3. Indianapolis Colts 4. Philadelphia Eagles 5. Kansas City Chiefs 6. Second stint with Titans 7. Pittsburgh Steelers 8. Detroit Lions He's still playing with the Lions now. Not too shabby for an unknown kid that the coaches evaluated and offered at the ND camp... There's lots of talent out there if you know what you're looking for. I once had a kid on my American Legion (summer) team who wasn't allowed to bat all year for his high school, because he was a pitcher. I let him pinch hit in a tournament game and I noticed that he put on a pair of glasses before he went to the plate. He got a hit and when he came back to the dugout, I asked him if he was a good hitter. He said, "Sure coach, I can hit anything." I ordered him to wear his glasses from then on and I put him at 3rd base all summer and he batted .444 with 8 over-the-fence HRs in a park that was 340' down each line and 430' to center. He's a baseball coach himself now. The moral of the story is, it doesn't take a genius to be a coach, if you know what you're looking for. I think Kelly and his staff know exactly what they want and they jump all over it as soon as it appears. Its not just developing talent. It's putting people in the right slots and ignoring the popular perceptions. Some schools like Boise State have never signed a 4-star or 5-star player that I'm aware of and even some powers like Nebraska have lagged in the star quality of the players that they recruit for years, while still maintaining their elite status. Until he proves me wrong, I'm betting the house on Brian Kelly...
Certainly Kelly has made his bones as a coach with guys that aren't even rated 1 star. I think you can also look at Jim Tressel who always seemed to have a mix of 3 star local guys who developed to go along with the elite talent that he recruited. I do think though that you need that elite talent. When that Cincy team that Kelly coached to 12-0 with only a few 3 star players and mostly 2 star B10 rejects faced a UF team loaded with 4 and 5 star players at each position you could see the physical difference.
Speaking of recruiting kids from camp, I saw something when my grandson was at ND's BB camp that may or may not be similar to the Cathedral kid. My grandson, Aaron, was one of the youngest kids in the 14-18 age group. There was a senior-to-be who - in my eyes - was an elite player. There were a number of elite-looking players but this kid stood out. He was chosen by Kyle McAlarney, one of the 4 team coaches, to scrimmage with the varsity one night during camp. He played very well. He looked like he belonged. It will be interesting to see if he pops up on ND's radar in the next several months. Maybe not, but I have a feeling I'll be seeing his name somewhere during the recruiting season. My point is that I don't believe he's ranked by any recruiting services......yet.
Good point Sid, no doubt there are kids out there who are under the radar as recruits but will blossom into legit college players and everybody will wonder how the recruiting services missed them. I think JO'Co's point is also good about BSU/Neb kids, If Kelly is good at recognizing those diamonds in the rough and developing them that is a huge plus. I just think that ND, with it's schedule, needs it's share of the elite national talent as well.
:idea: Something else to consider... Next year's recruiting class will include the return of strong safety Chris Badger from his Mormon mission. That means there will be at least six DBs in that class. The kid Kelly just got (Turner) is an inch taller, 15lbs heavier and measurably faster than Badger, while playing the same postion and having the same reputation for hard hitting. When combined with the elite DBs in that class, like Tee Shepard and Ronald Darby, Kelly is recruiting a class that will have plenty of everything. It's only year #2 and the Irish are already running out of holes to fill on their roster. Kelly appears to be a master at getting flexible players and putting them in the right slots. Remember the so-called lack of running backs? How about Kelly's "move" of incoming frosh George Atkinson to running back? The kid has played nothing but running back his entire life. He's 6'2" 205; runs a 4.4 forty and he was one of the top running backs in the nation last year. Lack of corner backs? Bennett Jackson was one of the fastest guys in the school and one of the hardest tacklers on special teams. Need more free safeties? Austin Collinsworth was also outstanding on special teams last year and he's played that position before too. Kelly isn't just recruiting the "right kind of guys" he's recruiting the right kind of players. He's getting the elite 4-star and 5-star play makers, but he's also getting superior athletes who can play multiple positions and this provides depth everywhere. I like it. So far, so good.
Kelly has said he really looks at body type the most when recruiting, not specific position..except for QB of course. I think he calls them skill (wr,rb,cb's, safety's) Big Skill(TE,LB, maybe safety) and Power which are your linemen of course.
Absolutely. I agree 100%, and I'm sure Jim does also. I like Jim's analysis above of the DB position and Atkinson's position switch.
Pete Duranko passed away the other day at 67, Lou Gehrigs Disease...too young. Great player from the '66 team.
Duranko together with Hardy, Page and Rhodes made up a great D line. I didn't know he had ALS. It's such an awful disease.
Here is a eulogy to the memory of Pete Duranko via email from my friend and classmate, Cappy Gagnon. Cap knew him. I once knew that he could walk the length of the field on his hands but had long since forgotten.
I'm hosting a tailgate for AF. My closest friend's son is a major in the Air Force and flys an F-15. He's stationed on Okinowa but will be home in Oct. for his sister's wedding. His father-in-law is a big ND subway alum and I've managed to latch onto 10 tickets to host 8 of their family. I got 2 for the Mich. game in the lottery and managed to swap them for 2 to the SC game. That should be quite a collision.
Kelly article on espn.com....I love this part and love how ND won't deviate from this.... Any recruit who goes to Notre Dame also accepts the academic responsibilities that go along with it, and that appealed to Shepard, an ESPNU 150 defensive back. "I chose Notre Dame because I looked at football and academics," Shepard said. "I'm a good student and I want to get into the engineering program up there.