Recruiting: Notre Dame Recruiting Continues To Evolve

Where Notre Dame lands its recruits continues to change

Where Notre Dame Recruits Continues to Evolve

The Fighting Irish always recruited nationally. While common for Notre Dame to sign players from 10 or more states each year, the 2020 class presents a unique twist. The Irish found several important prospects from states Notre Dame does not normally sign top targets.

Before this recruiting class began to take shape, if you were told Notre Dame would possess just two players from traditional recruiting grounds such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois combined, what would you think? Well, that’s what Notre Dame currently possesses. More importantly, it’s working.

Just does not seem possible, does it? Notre Dame always seemed to land good players from the Midwest and in Pennsylvania. While Notre Dame still cultivates those areas, sometimes you just find prospects in unusual places, historically speaking anyway.

Notre Dame’s staff changed dramatically during the past three years, and which states the recruits came from reflect that notion. Let’s take a look at a few of the unusual 2020 recruiting wins, a few of the players from the past, plus a look to the future.

Nebraska

When Notre Dame first extended an offer to Omaha (Neb.) Burke athlete Xavier Watts, not too many people were confident he’d end up in South Bend. After all, Nebraska rarely loses top in-state prospects. 

Watts connected with Notre Dame from the first time he visited, and made his commitment this past July 5th. Nebraska really wanted Watts, as did Michigan. In the end, Watts felt most comfortable with the Irish. While the Irish landed Watts, arguably the top player Nebraska has to offer this year, Irish fans should not get used to landing top Nebraska talent. It’s still really hard to recruit that state because of the University of Nebraska.

Kentucky

Notre Dame began to recruit Kentucky during the past few years. In 2019, the Irish signed Bowling Green (Ky.) South Warren defensive tackle Jacob Lacey. He’s played considerable snaps this year, and registered 14 tackles and one-half a sack. Notre Dame went back into Kentucky for the 2020 class and landed two more talented prospects.

Alexandria (Ky.) Covington Catholic tight end Michael Mayer and Danville (Ky.) Boyle County cornerback Landen Bartleson are part of the 2020 class, and both were highly coveted by the Irish staff. Mayor is one of the nation’s top tight ends and had offers from Ohio State, Kentucky, Alabama, Michigan and Penn State before choosing Notre Dame. Bartleson will transition to cornerback full-time after playing offense and defense in high school. He earned offers from Ohio State, Kentucky, Louisville, Tennessee and Michigan.

Notre Dame signed at least one prospect from Kentucky two years in a row. Due to proximity and recent success, Kentucky could be a state Notre Dame looks to harvest more often in the future.

Missouri

Notre Dame signed St. Louis (Mo.) Vianney running back Kyren Williams in 2019, and now the Irish will bring in St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet star wide receiver Jordan Johnson. He’s one of the most heavily recruited 2020 wide receiver targets, spurning offers from Ohio State, Florida, and Alabama, all schools he took unofficial visits. Look for Johnson to play for the Irish as soon as next year. 

As a bonus, Notre Dame secured the commitment of 2021 prospect Gabriel Rubio from St. Peter's (Mo.) Lutheran of St. Charles. He is a prime piece to Notre Dame’s next class.

Missouri, and the greater St. Louis area in particular, continues to be an area SEC, B10, B12, and Notre Dame all recruit. With Rubio, that will be three consecutive years Notre Dame signed a player from the St. Louis area. This is a really good sign for the future of Notre Dame recruiting.

Colorado

Denver (Colo.) Mullen defensive tackle Aidan Keanaaina could have gone to several schools, but Notre Dame beat out Florida and Ohio State for his pledge. Not only is it significant that the Irish will add a player from a state that normally does not send prospects to South Bend, but he will add much needed size and talent to an interior defensive line group that finally has balance with the addition of the 2020 class.

Arizona

Amongst all the top offensive tackles in the country, Notre Dame landed its No. 1 offensive tackle prospect for the 2020 cycle. Phoenix (Ariz.) Pinnacle big man Tosh Baker could have signed with just about any program. A true national recruit, the Irish beat out Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, UCLA, Stanford, and Oregon to name a few. Finding and signing talented left tackle prospects like Baker can prove difficult. Huge win for the Irish.

Hawaii

Notre Dame first made its mark in 2009 when it signed Manti Te’o out of Hawaii. Te'o was a Heisman finalist and was one of the most decorated linebackers in history, which helped open the door for Notre Dame in Hawaii and the Irish continue to go after players all the way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This year the Irish reeled in Honolulu (Haw.) St. Louis edge player Jordan Botelho.

One of Notre Dame’s top targets regardless of position, Botelho picked Notre Dame over the likes of USC, Oregon and Washington among others. Many people believed Botelho would pick Washington, a program that routinely recruits Hawaii. Hats off to Notre Dame assistant coaches Mike Elston and Brian Polian, the same assistant coach that helped Notre Dame land Te’o just over a decade ago. The 2019 class saw Notre Dame hit Hawaii as well.

Marist Liufau is a late bloomer that looks to be the real deal, and he inked with Notre Dame in the 2019 class. He’s expected to compete for major playing time next year, if not start.

With current junior defensive tackle and fellow Hawaiian Myron Tafovailoa-Amosa being a prominent member of the Fighting Irish, perhaps the Irish can increase its Hawaiian talent pool by adding more players in 2021.

It’s evident that Notre Dame wishes to make its presence known because it already offered two-way standout Titus Mokiao-Atimalala from Ewa Beach (Haw.) Campbell. A 6-1, 165-pound wide receiver/cornerback, he's one of the best players Hawaii has to offer for the class of 2021. Hawaii is a state to watch with Notre Dame, much like Kentucky and Missouri.

Mississippi

When Notre Dame gained the commitment from Southaven (Miss.) High School defensive back Caleb Offord, there was some surprise. It's not often the Irish dip into the Magnolia state. Offord is probably more of an outlier than a trend. Mississippi presents many challenges in terms of culture and recruiting competition that will make it difficult for the Irish to consistently pull players out of the state. Still, it’s a good sign that Notre Dame made the effort to recruit Offord instead of giving up before inquiring. Offord also earned offers from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Duke.

What About Georgia and Florida?

Florida and Georgia have been recruiting priorities for Notre Dame during the past several years, but it will not land a single player from either state for the class of 2020. Point blank, do not look for this trend to continue. For one, there’s a plethora of talent in both states, especially linemen. Notre Dame will need to get back into those states despite how difficult both of them can be to recruit. Recent history proves that Notre Dame certainly found great players from both states.

Stephon Tuitt came from Monroe, Ga. and was a national recruit. How about current Irish freshman and freshman All-American Kyle Hamilton is from Atlanta. Can you imagine the difference it would be if Notre Dame did not sign Hamilton? He made a huge impact for the Irish this past season. Florida certainly produced its fair share of prospects that landed in South Bend as well.

Going all the way back to the Lou Holtz era, Notre Dame continually mined the Sunshine State. In 1988, Derek Brown from Merrit Island, Pat Terrell in 1987 and Tom Carter in 1990 from St. Petersburg, as well as more recent success like 2015 signees Dexter Williams and Tevon Coney. There’s still talent on the Irish roster from Florida.

It’s just a matter of him Pompano Beach, Fla. native Kevin Austin maturing and becoming a prime member of the Irish wide receiver corps. Overall, there’s no question that Notre Dame will be back in Georgia and Florida, and as soon as the 2021 class, most likely.

Overall Thoughts

Notre Dame finds talent everywhere. It does not matter if a kid is from Pennsylvania or Ohio or Illinois. If the young man can play, Notre Dame should recruit that player. It’s that simple. Now, there are other states like California and Texas that Notre Dame can do well in at times, too. Look for the Irish to continue to look at prospects in both of those states for the class of 2021 and beyond.