Midterm Recruiting Report Cards For Notre Dame's First-Year Coaches

Notre Dame's first-year assistant coaches are certainly putting in work on the recruiting trail, with varying degrees of success. In our latest Recruiting Hour podcast we go over how each coach has performed on the trail thus far and what they need to do to close out effectively.

We actually kicked the show off with a preview of offensive lineman Sullivan Absher's pending decision, which will take place on Friday. That is followed by our evaluation of the coaches.

Defensive line coach Al Washington is the first coach we break down because so far he's had the most success. Not only has Washington landing three commitments so far, including a pair of Top 100 players (Boubacar Traore in 2023 class, Brandon Davis-Swain in 2024 class) and a Top 200 recruit (Devan Houstan). We also discussed how important of a role Washington played in keeping five-star Keon Keeley in the class.

Offensive line coach Harry Hiestand is next up in our breakdown. Hiestand already has one commitment in the class (Sam Pendleton), another top target is ready to make his decision known (Absher) and there are a couple of big-time targets still on the board (Monroe Freeling, Charles Jagusah). It's about closing now for Hiestand.

The biggest enigma of the new coaching hires was Chansi Stuckey, but he has certainly made his presence felt. Stuckey already has a commitment from Top 100 wide receiver Braylon James and there are a number of very talented players on the board. Stuckey, like Hiestand, now needs to show he can close.

Running backs coach Deland McCullough landed a 2022 recruit when Gi'Bran Payne picked the Irish, and he's making a push for Top 250 running back Jayden Limar. McCullough and tight ends coach Gerad Parker are in unique situations in that they inherited committed prospects, which means much of the focus on their evaluation is the work they do in the 2024 class.

Following our breakdown of the coaches we did a recruiting question and answer session. We talked about Notre Dame's dream class, holding onto the No. 1 ranked class, the recruiter of the year, Chad Bowden and much, much more.

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Irish Breakdown Content

Notre Dame 2022 Roster
Notre Dame 2022 Schedule

Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Offense
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Defense

Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense

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