Here's a 2013 on Catholic schools. I'm sure it hasn't improved since this article was written. "Overall, America’s Catholic schools are closing at a rapid rate. At their peak in the mid-1960s, more than 13,000 Catholic elementary and secondary schools enrolled twelve percent of U.S. school children. But by 2012, fewer than 7,000 Catholic schools enrolled about two million, or five percent, of U.S. school-aged children" Why the Decline of Catholic Schools Matters
No doubt Catholic schools have closed, I didn't mean to imply that they haven't. I just think that there are still a lot of Catholic HS playing football at a pretty high level. I also not sure we can blame any decline in ND football on the changing Catholic HS scene. Here in Houston, we have more Catholic High Schools now than when I first came here with my family in 1959. There has been one closed but it was then taken over and reopened as an Episcopal HS where incidentally Alabama WR Jayden Waddle played. Also there is a growth in high end Private HS all around the country. Valor HS in the Denver area is an example, it's where the McCaffrey boys all played. There are a couple in Dallas that big and have well developed football programs. If I had to point to something it would be the decline of the talent in Pennsylvanian which used to be a fertile recruiting area for the Irish (and obviously Penn State) combined with the rise of HS football in the South Eastern States where ND historically didn't recruit many players. I know from reading a poster on Rocks House named Olsen who has a wealth of knowledge about ND recruiting that even Ara had his issues, at the time the Chicago Catholic league produced a lot of players for the Big 10 and Notre Dame. Some alums thought Ara should have done better in that league, but for a number of reasons he didn't.
I don't see where high end private schools would be a fertile source of recruiting for a Catholic university. I can see it being helpful to schools like Stanford or Vanderbilt. I don't know about Houston but I do know that many of the Catholic HSs in the Detroit area closed. And Catholic schools today aren't like they were in Ara's time. In the grade schools and high schools there were many religious teaching. The nuns and priests of my parish in NYC always were talking about Notre Dame and their football team. Maybe that's why 4 boys from my grade school class ended up at ND. I'm guessing it was the same in Sid's school although he didn't grow up far from campus. As to Ara, before he came to ND he was at Northwestern and probably recruited the Chicago schools until he was purple in the face. Once he got to ND he didn't see the need to go back to where he wasn't that successful. Maybe Olsen has a different take.
The Catholic schools I'm familiar with ( grade school and high school ) have much smaller enrollments than they used to have. My high school has shrunk by a full 36% over the years. We had a very good football program but now a .500 season is cause for celebration. Tuition is out reach for a lot of families. This problem trickles up.
IMO, one major reason (not the only one) for our recruiting issues is the fact that today's HS seniors - Catholic or not - were born in 2003, 15 years after ND's last national championship. Unlike today's power programs (Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, etc.) we can't offer historical (in their lifetimes) evidence of being a national power program, which we were through the mid 1990s. I know we've been to the NC game a couple of times in the past 10 years, but we got our ears pinned back so bad, it really didn't make an impression. Like I said, just my opinion.
Some speculation about Kurt Hinish for Wisconsin. Kelly was evasive in answering the question, I hope he's at or near 100%, he's not just a good player we need but he's a leader on that defense. We need him vs Wisconsin. The question during Thursday afternoon's Zoom press conference: "There's been some speculation about Kurt Hinish's health, if you could address that?" The answer: "There's always going to be guys that are questionable during the week that have lingering injuries from the week before," Kelly said. "But we don't rule anybody out unless they're clear that they are not going to play." Given the stakes of the game Hinish's importance to the team, he's more than likely going to do everything he can to get on the field. Most importantly, Kelly has not said outright he won't be able to. "I think each week you'll find there are going to be some rumors, there is going to be some speculation as to some guys who may be available or unavailable," Kelly said. "I'll let you guys know if there is somebody definitely not available leading into the game."
So far it's defense. A few big plays by both teams.. Missing that FG really hurt. I am nervous every time our kicker lines up, he's made some big clutch kicks but sometimes just blows the routine stuff. No running game, going to have to continue to play tough on defense and hope Coan can make some passes
Agree with Stu, clearly the defender pushed the receiver before the ball got there. Doerer is somewhat inconsistent but that FG was well done.
Both offensive lines are really struggling protecting the QB. But, if Wisky keeps on going 3 and out, Badgers are going to wear down.
As expected a defensive struggle. Neither Wisconsin or Notre Dame have been able to run the ball effectively. Coan has out played Mertz so far.