A National Perspective On Cornerback Recruiting - Part II

A look at where Notre Dame has had the most success finding cornerbacks in recent seasons.

The recent history of cornerbacks at Notre Dame proves to be a diverse background of players that changed positions, but that could change moving forward.

While it would be great for Notre Dame to just go out and land two or three elite cornerbacks for the 2021 class, history points to a less favorable outcome. Well, sort of. Notre Dame finds its way with cornerback recruiting, but it’s usually a two-part developmental process. There are reasons for that situation developing time and again.

The one position that gives the Irish the most difficulty in recruiting tends to be cornerback. But why? Two prime reasons.

First, location. As discussed in yesterday’s first installment of this three-part article, the vast majority of elite cornerbacks do not reside close to Notre Dame. That’s just a fact and something Notre Dame will likely always deal with year in and year out.

Second, academics. One could make a case that the position hit the hardest by academic pitfalls would be cornerback, historically speaking. Obviously with Notre Dame’s academic standards, that tends to make cornerback recruiting a challenge by itself.

Despite those challenges, Notre Dame tends to go through cycles where cornerbacks emerge. How that happens, however, proved to be diverse.

Offense to Defense

There’s nothing wrong with finding top-notch athletes that played offense in high school and moving them to cornerback. In fact, that’s been the case at Notre Dame for decades.

Whether it was Todd Lyght (1987-1990) moving to cornerback from wide receiver after being one of the most coveted recruits in the country coming from Flint (Mich.) Powers Catholic, or more recently, converting KeiVarae Russell (2012-2015) from Everett (Wash.) Mariner to cornerback from running back, Notre Dame brings athletes to the cornerback position.

He wasn’t recruited to play offense, but All-American Julian Love (2016-18) was a dynamic offensive player in high school as well.

Former running back Vontez Duff (2000-2003) and former wide receiver Bennett Jackson (2010-2013), from Copperas Cove (Texas) High School and Hazlet (N.J.) Rariton, also represent prime examples of recruits that played offense in high school, only to move to defense for the Irish.

There’s also a couple of prime reasons many of these players could play cornerback at a high level beyond just natural athleticism.

Recruit Speed and Length

Coming out of high school, each of the aforementioned players could really run. Quickness is one thing, pure speed is another. There’s no question that speed will continue to be something college football defensive back coaches covet, and the majority of players Notre Dame converted to cornerback over the years tended to be some of the fastest players on the roster. One more key ingredient.

All four of those listed above were listed 6-0 or taller coming out of high school. Height helps tremendously when playing cornerback, so it’s not surprising each of the four former Irish players ended up playing cornerback.

From an evaluation perspective, of all the positions in college football, no position continuously stays the same like cornerback. Find speed and length. It’s something Notre Dame does well, even if the recruits in question do not start out at cornerback. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Notre Dame does that again in 2021.

Now can the Irish find the right mix of cornerback recruits for 2021? Two positive signs should help Notre Dame.

Notoriety and a Proven Cornerbacks Coach

With Notre Dame making the 2018 college football playoff, that placed the Irish in the crosshairs of many eyeballs, recruits included. That will help with recruiting across the board for a few years, and it certainly comes at a great time considering Notre Dame needs to land at least two very good cornerbacks for the 2021 recruiting class. Notoriety is one thing, receiving a letter of intent can prove to be quite another.

That’s where newly hired defensive backs coach Mike Mickens comes into play. Not only did he do an outstanding job of coaching up the players for the Cincinnati Bearcats during his tenure (2018-2019), Mickens also proved to be an excellent evaluator of talent and recruiter.

Point blank, Notre Dame needed a cornerbacks coach that will not only recruit, but actually enjoy the grind of recruiting. It’s tedious, long hours, with many shortcomings. Just the evaluation process alone can be a grind. Adding the long hours of getting to know prospects and those people also helping prospects make a college decision can be difficult.

As a rule, a coach either enjoys recruiting or does not enjoy recruiting. Mickens appears to be more of the latter, thankfully for the Irish.

While signing four and five star cornerbacks would be nice, and Notre Dame may do just that this year, coach Mickens already proved he can develop talent. With Notre Dame’s cache and coach Mickens now onboard, there’s very little reason to believe Notre Dame’s 2021 cornerback class will fall short.

All of that information leads to how Notre Dame can land some of the elite warm weather cornerback recruits.

Recruit California and Texas

It will continue to be really difficult to land elite cornerbacks in traditional SEC states like Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. Yes, Notre Dame accomplished this task several times before, but it’s risky to spend too much time on players that most likely stay down South and play in the SEC or ACC. That’s not the case further to the west.

In the Big XII region, recruits know that offense is king. That’s why the Irish and many other programs continually go into this region in an attempt to land talented defensive players. Perhaps this will be the year Notre Dame signs one of the Lone Star State’s top cornerbacks.

The Irish are certainly in the mix for 5-9, 185-pound corner Deuce Harmon of Denton (Texas) Guyer. He was looking to visit Notre Dame this spring before the COVID-19 virus changed every program’s recruiting schedule. Out in California, even more options for basically the same reason.

There’s simply no dominant team in California right now. USC is looked at by many recruits as nothing more than an afterthought because it’s struggled during recent years, although I’m curious to see how the hire of cornerbacks coach Donte Williams impacts that view with defensive backs.

Oregon and Arizona State might be Notre Dame’s biggest challenge from Pac 12 programs when recruiting California prospects, with schools like Ohio State, Alabama, and Clemson also taking advantage of USC being down. Four cornerbacks that Irish Breakdown continually mentions as possible Notre Dame signees include the following:

DJ Harvey, 5-11, 175, Santa Clarita (Calif.) Sierra Canyon

Dyson McCutcheon, 5-10, 175, Claremont (Calif.) Bishop Amat

Jaylin Smith, 5-11, 180, Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany

Ceyair Wright, 6-1, 175, Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola

All four of those young men could end up visiting Notre Dame. Even if Notre Dame signs only one of the listed California cornerback recruits, that could well represent half of Notre Dame’s 2021 cornerback recruiting class.

For the final installment, a look at how Notre Dame can begin to land some of the truly elite cornerbacks.