Four-star cornerback Philip Riley's recruitment took yet another twist today when the one-time Fighting Irish commit, who once flipped to the USC Trojans, committed a second time to Notre Dame. The 6-0, 190-pounder from the class of 2021 initially committed to Notre Dame on May 5, but ended up joining USC’s class on Sept. 28 after a change of heart, but later decided that he saw his brightest future in South Bend with the Fighting Irish. Well, think he'll stay this time?
I read an eval of Irish verbal, Lorenzo Styles Jr of Pickering Ohio Central. It was a rave review. There was a time that Styles had a lot of people worried that he was going to flip to Michigan or Ohio State. That seems to have all died down now. Early signing starts Dec 16th I hope he signs!! From Matt Freeman on Irish Sports Daily. THE LOCK I’m not sure where he’s going to end up during his career, but it would shock me if Lorenzo Styles Jr. didn’t end up being one of the top players in this class for Notre Dame. The four-star prospect entered his senior year as a fine football player, but he raised his game even more by adding strength to this game. Styles was known for his elite speed and it’s still there, but he set the tone for Pickerington Central (Ohio) by establishing a physical presence all year. He’s also showed up big when the lights have been the brightest as he scored the game-winning touchdown to win last year’s State Title and made several huge plays when his team needed them over the last two seasons. At receiver, Styles gives Notre Dame a big-play threat with his speed and also Golden Tate ability with the ball in his hands. He’s going to get loose breaking tackles at the next level and I’m not sure that’s something the Irish have right now. If he ends up at cornerback, Notre Dame is getting someone who can play press-man and a player with an extremely high football IQ. He’s got work to do at both positions, but coming in early will give him a great chance to get on the field early. The Ohio native can also help Brian Polian on special teams immediately as he’s returned several kickoffs and punts for touchdowns this year. Styles has great vision, the ability to make the first guy miss and then it’s goodnight. Styles and Pickerington Central may have gotten blown out in the State Final game over the weekend, but it wasn’t his fault. He was the best player on the field.
Michigan isn't giving him any reason to go their way based on their on field performance thus far so who knows????
It was really good to see him come back. It was great that he spent his own dime to visit the campus and visit on a non-football weekend so he could get a feel about what a normal ND was like. The ban on campus visits has made recruiting at ND much harder than schools who basically get kids from a 300 mile radius like Texas, or Texas A&M. The Texas kids can easily drive to the campus and walk around.
Irish flip reportedly is a the top kicker in the Nation, Joshua Ryan, from Colorado. He won't have to step right in and produce as a true freshman. Because Jonathan Doerer has said that he wants to come back next year, taking advantage of the free year the NCAA gave everyone this season.
Ian Book has accepted his invite to the Senior Bowl, which means he doesn't intend to come back and take advantage of the extra year the NCAA has given everybody who plays this falls. There has been talk about wanting Book back because none of the backups have any experience and that 5* kid from California didn't play his senior year due to Covid rules in California, having Book for next year would give him a year to acclimate and be ready for 2022. Nobody seems to think either Clarke or Pyne have what it takes. Some are hoping that Kelly brings in a Grad Transfer at QB, there is likely to be a bunch of them available after the season. You have to figure guys like the Coan kid at Wisc who was a good QB till he got Wally Pipped by Graham Mertz, and there will be others available that's for sure. Here's the current list of Senior Bowl players. Accepted Invites
I think that is the fear, a freshman who is very talented supposedly, but still a freshman who has missed a lot of HS playing time due to injury and the virus. I just wish that when we had the chance that Kelly would have put Clarke and/or Pyne in the game and let them run the offense and score if they could. But Kelly sticks with the starter till late and then the backups when they do get in just hand the ball off and he runs the clock.
Notre Dame picked up a LB from Hawaii today, The Big Kahuna! Kahuna Kia. He is not a highly ranked kid but apparently Clark Lea likes his upside and see's a great future for him in the Irish Defense. The only thing is that he is Mormon and possibly will go on a 2 year mission after graduation. If he does that means he won't see South Bend till 2023 I guess.
Hard to figure Book. Is he just anxious to move on to the next chapter of his life? That's fine if so but I don't see any way he gets a whiff from the NFL.
Lot of flipping going on. We just flipped another one: The Fighting Irish have been hot on the recruiting trail and that continued on Thursday when Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic four-star offensive tackle Caleb Johnson committed to Notre Dame. The 6-7, 295-pounder from the class of 2021 was previously committed to Auburn
Obviously I have no insight into Book, and I would agree that he's not likely to be drafted. He's a good college Qb and we have been lucky he has been our qb. He's won a lot of games for us, with some gutty play. That fumble in the Clemson game could've been devastating but he gutted it up and played his ass off when we needed him. He's not an elite Qb like Lawrence, Jones, Fields or Trask... but he is a winner. He has his degree, he's been at ND for 5 years now, I don't blame him for being ready to move on to whatever life holds for him. I hope he can take a National Championship with him, but even if he can't I wish him a lot of success..
He's a flat-out winner. He wins even on his "bad" days. He takes what the opponent gives him and uses it to his advantage. He's one of a kind. He's not "pretty" enough to be nominated for the Heisman (IMO he should be), but that doesn't diminish his glowing legacy and his place among the great ND QBs.
it's hard to be critical of Book. Even in his sub-par passing games you still find yourself saying......we probably wouldn't have won that game without him.
Irish OL takes another blow, RG Tommy Kraemer has had an appendectomy and is out for an indeterminate amount of time. This means that Zeke Correll will definitely start at OC and Josh Lugg who was considered in the mix at center will now start at RG. OL depth is now razor thin. The article on Irish Illustrated said that Kraemer could return this season, maybe v Syracuse Dec 5th or Wake Forrest Dec 12.