Notre Dame Recruiting Mailbag - Part Two
In the second adaption of this week's recruiting mailbag, we dive into the remainder of the 2023 recruiting class and what recruits Notre Dame is still targeting. There is also some strategy mixed in, as well as some overall outlook for how much the season success can affect the recruiting efforts.
As always, recruiting questions were submitted by our wonderful subscribers of the Irish Breakdown premium message board. With only a couple weeks left until game day, let's dig into some more recruiting talk!
@ajmullen39: I’d like to know more about the wide receiver and quarterback recruiting efforts, maybe what the big board is looking like. I know a new offer went out for the wide receiver from California, just wondering what Irish Breakdown is thinking about this talent.
From the wide receiver perspective, Taeshaun Lyons is the player to watch. The class has one more spot remaining to get it to five pass catchers and that is the player that the staff has identified after it became apparent that Ronan Hanafin was picking Clemson. Lyons is a quality overall athlete and has a nice combination of length and a propensity to create big plays. He would be a really nice developmental pass catcher who should fit in well as a part of the talented group if they are able to sell him.
The staff is also keeping close tabs on Malachi Riley, another talented pass catcher out of the state of California. He is more of a Plan B option if things don’t trend well with Lyons but still has talent in his own right.
For the quarterback board, the name to know is Kenny Minchey out of Tennessee. He is currently committed to Pittsburgh but is a player that the staff is working hard to flip. Minchey is really the lone name circulating right now but we also believe that the board may expand at some point as the staff continues to evaluate other signal callers. While Minchey is the focus of what is known, we are confident Notre Dame's staff is doing plenty of evaluating with the 2023 class. Quarterback is a position that will most likely be a bit of a process to figure out moving forward.
@kylewade95: Is there much of a defensive board anymore, or is there more of a wait and see approach for said late bloomers/risers during the season? Have you seen anyone you feel is underrated by recruiting services that Notre Dame has “looked at” without offering?
There is a defensive board, yes. It is just very small now considering that the class is already nearing its capacity. The biggest priority for the staff is to solidify their standings with current commits and those who may be evaluating their options. This class has a chance to be special and keeping it intact is of the utmost importance.
From there, the big target left is Samuel M’Pemba, who would technically start his career at rover but brings a skill set that could play a variety of positions in the front seven. If the staff was able to maintain the class and add in M’Pemba, that would be an absolute home run.
The staff also did add a couple of defensive ends to the board pretty recently with Blake Purchase and current Tennessee commit Caleb Herring. It is unsure whether Notre Dame would be willing to push the defensive line number back to five. Those two offers also give the staff some insurance in case Keon Keeley is flipped. They are worth keeping tabs on but we won’t see much movement for awhile, if any. Should Keeley leave the class we would expect the board to expand.
@seanmk10: Ryan - Thanks for all that you and Bryan do. Best Notre Dame site, by far. As Bryan noted recently, another Notre Dame site had predicted Ronan Hanafin to Clemson. That same site also has Jeremiyah Love trending away from Notre Dame.
Looking unlikely for the quarterbacks targeted to switch to Notre Dame and Samuel M’Pemba remains very unlikely. What are your thoughts on the four aforementioned players and your thoughts on who else might be Irish when the 2023 class is wrapped up. Any good surprises out there that are still possible? Will there be a quarterback?
I would remain patient with Jeremiyah Love. I do not share the same skepticism that things are trending away. In fact, I believe that Notre Dame is the firm leader, something we have felt for sometime.
I would also slow the roll on the Samuel M’Pemba take. He will be a hard pull but the Irish staff is still battling there and should be in it until the end. At times in this recruitment Notre Dame has been his leader, so unless M'Pemba changes plans and decides to commit in the next month or so, the Irish still have time to continue making a push for him. He is currently scheduled to visit Notre Dame officially the weekend of November 5th when the Irish host Clemson.
Obviously Ronan Hanafin did end up choosing Clemson. It was a miss without question. He is an extremely talented athlete and player the entire Irish Breakdown staff is extremely high on.
The quarterback board is just too unsettled to predict right now. With Minchey being the main target, it is going to be a bit of a process of flipping the current Pittsburgh commit if possible. I would also expect the quarterback board to expand a bit, especially as the staff continues to evaluate the position. I still would be very surprised if Notre Dame left the 2023 class without a quarterback.
@letitplayout2022: Ryan, how does Coach Freeman’s recruiting pitch change if Notre Dame exceeds expectations and gets 11 plus wins in 2022? How does it change if Notre Dame under performs and ends up with eight wins or fewer? Thanks!
There have been several recruits throughout the process who have talked a lot about wanting to see the on field success to couple that with the momentum of the staff’s reach on the recruiting trail. If that on field success does come, this has a chance to blow up. The pulse around recruiting is that people are generally very excited about what Marcus Freeman is building but wins need to come to further that energy.
Conversely, it can halt some momentum with a disappointing initial season. It won’t totally kill recruiting but it will create some form of skepticism. Context to consider is that it is only his initial season. The long term will be what Coach Freeman is ultimately judged on so it can’t get too hyperbolic with some early struggles. I would be lying, however, if I acted like the on field success doesn’t matter this year.
@irishcub5: What are some good examples of mega quarterback risers during their senior season? Seems Notre Dame might be trending towards that type of player at quarterback in the 2023 class.
Drew Allar is a really good example from the 2022 recruiting class. He was relatively unheralded coming into his senior season and experienced a dramatic rise in terms of ranking and notoriety. By the end he had a legitimate argument as the top quarterback in the class.
In this 2023 recruiting class, it is very possible that there are a few candidates who could have a dramatic rise during the process. With it being such a good quarterback class with such a high volume of talented passers, it is even more likely that a player can fall through the cracks a bit.
@sixtiesdomer: Ryan, I think this is important for fans to consider. How important in recruiting are the current young players in school and the 2023 commits in developing the 2024 and 2025 boards? It really seems once a kid enters school he is forgotten by many fans, even though we know it can take a year or more to transition to a contributor. We’ve got an example with Tyson Ford this fall, plus Joshua Burnham and Aiden Gobaira at Vyper. I haven’t heard they’ve lost any talent, they just need to develop. Don’t the coaches who are working with these kids know what they have by now, so they can sort their 2024 board better? My guess is that is why we seem to be going even more for defensive tackle types in 2024. The coach knows he can get by with one edge that year, but isn’t as sure of the 2023 high school kids he can’t coach yet, moving inside.
For the most part, recruits will evaluate the depth chart and develop a deeper understanding for what would be potentially in front of them and what the long term outlook looks like. We have heard recruits like Charles Jagusah this cycle talk a ton about how they admired the attention given to some younger players on the roster in the practice setting.
From the coaches perspective, yes developing an understanding for just how good your players are can set action for recruiting. That can lead to priorities on the recruiting trail and establish needs. That is the evaluation aspect of the current roster. It matters tremendously to project.
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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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