TE is the one position in which we always seem to be blessed with and have for decades. There's a lot of hype that surrounds being 'the starting QB at ND' but honestly, the starting TE at ND usually equates into a much better NFL player. We're pretty loaded there again and we have possibly the top TE in the country coming in as a freshman. We'll see. The competition at that spot is brutal. I love our TEs. I just wish our OC did too. I wish Cole nothing but the best of luck in his future endeavors. I read somewhere that Brett Venebles is a terrible recruiter, but a fantastic coordinator. I think it's funny that ND fans expect every position coach to be a top coach and recruiter. I'm pretty sure Joe Moore was more of a 'hands on' coach than a living room presence.
Joe Moore was pretty rough around the edges. Can’t imagine sending him into any kid’s home for a recruiting visit.
Agreed, which brings me back to, not all these guys need to be recruiters. You can even sell the fact that some coaches aren't salesmen and the kids/parents respect that. It appears to be working just fine for Clemson.
I think they all need to be recruiters, it's the life blood of the team. I think the HC needs to be the leader and demand that all those guys make a fair effort. No doubt that some guys, because of their personality are going to be better at it than others, but I don't want guys who are not out there doing their share in building a recruiting class.
From an ISD article. I read somewhere that his oldest son is entering HS and will be at Mater Dei. Todd Lyght loves the University of Notre Dame, but family comes first, which is why the former All-American cornerback won’t be back on the sidelines in South Bend next season. “I will not be with the Irish in the 2020 season, but my plan is to finish out my contract and then move back to California to be with the fam,” Lyght told Irish Sports Daily. “Last year, I moved my family out to California and got my kids in school out here.” Lyght said when he returned to Notre Dame as a coach back in 2015, his plan was to be with the program for four or five years. Family First As Todd Lyght Leaves Notre Dame
Probably will be a 1000 yd receiver as a freshman and a 1st team AA!! Here's one of the Irish Guru's ... ISD Expert Jamie Uyeyama He’s a multi-sport (basketball and track) and multi-position athlete, which is always a huge plus. That also tells me that he is nowhere close to reaching his potential because he hasn’t focused solely on his future position. He has great after-the-catch skills as a receiver and he's fluid and finds the football as a defender. Irish fans should be very excited about his versatility and the staff did a great job identifying someone with the potential to create explosive plays.
Kelly has 3 1st team All-Pros OL. Ronnie Stanley, Ravens, ND '16, Quenton Nelson, Colts, ND '17, and Zach Martin, Cowboys, ND '12.
Not an endorsement of Kelly's effort as being part of the team effort in recruiting. The two toughest misses for the Irish were wide receiver Jalen McMillan (Washington) and safety Lathan Ransom (Ohio State). In interviews with the Tribune this week, both said head coach Brian Kelly’s lack of involvement in their recruitment influenced them into passing on Notre Dame. Explaining Notre Dame's two toughest misses in the 2020 recruiting class
Recruiting...there was a time that ND was a monster recruiting machine. Gerry Faust had something like 10 or 11 Parade All-Americans in one of his early classes. Lou Holtz's early classes were just absolutely loaded with talent. Going back in history before it was followed like it is today, Leahy had a lot of talent as well, the Irish were a dominant force. So as time as gone on the narrative has changed to ND can't recruit anymore because of the academics, the weather, not in a conference, South Bend isn't Austin Texas, the girls aren't cute, no party scene. List goes on and on. But South Bend has been what it is forever, during the Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian, Holtz etc, ND has always been a good academic school, the social life is what it is, the girls weren't prettier back in those days. Sure ND has some hurdles other schools don't have, but when the effort is out there by the coach and the staff we can get a lot of good players. That's why the aritcle linked above is troubling. I think it's well known that Kelly has never been the type of all out recruiter that even Charlie Weis was, he seems to prefer to let others do most of the work and be the closer. But the guys that are being uber successful in recruiting are much more involved, Urban Meyer, Dabo Sweeny, Nick Saban, Mack Brown back in his Mr. Feb days, now Ryan Day. Kelly recently made a comment about feeling like we're close and can compete to getting a top 5 class. I think he's right but in order to do that, Kelly is going to have to step up his game to compete with Ryan Day, Dabo, Saban, etc. He needs a staff that is committed and he needs to demand that commitment, starting with the HC.
If we hired Urban Meyer tomorrow, he could have a rocking chair coaching the OL and he'd put together a a top 5 class.
Hopefully this is part of the changes that Kelly was inferring when he talked about getting top 5 classes instead of top 10-15.
I don't like the things coaches have to do these days to get these kids but it looks like that is what you have to do to keep up with the elites.
sadly, Tim, I agree with you. I couldn't watch that dog and pony show of an all-star game. It's a shame the other networks can't compete with Disney (or won't), but it really cheapens the whole thing.
I didn't watch it, but the Irish and Syracuse put on quite a show in the Carrier Dome this afternoon. ND wins 88-87. John Mooney had a great game as did Prentiss Hubb.
I think that kid, Mayer, who is coming in to play TE at ND scored a long TD in the all-star game today. I haven't seen it, but the Facebook groups won't shut up about him.
He's a really good player and most of the hype around him is that he could come in and be in the rotation right away, even though he's not an early enrollee. Arik Gilbert a LSU signee from Georgia, is the 247 #1 TE, and Mayer is #2 on 247, On ESPN Darnell Washington a Georgia signee from Las Vegas is the #1 TE, Gilbert is #2 and Mayer #3. I do like Tommy Tremble he's done some good things this year, and Brock Wright is good inline TE. The unknown is George Takacs who hasn't played much but did get a nice TD catch vs Duke. So Mayer, with the departure of Kmet, will be in the mix and maybe even Kevin Bauman who is ranked #5 at TE on ESPN, so he's a very good player as well. Mayer seems to be special though from what I read.