Notre Dame Fighting Irish's Recruting Class Grows to Nine

(Photo by Jeff Golden/Getty Images)

On Monday, the Fighting Irish picked up its ninth commitment in the recruiting class of 2010 when former Stanford commitment Chris Badger made a visit to campus thanks to the work of defensive line coach Randy Hart. Badger was quoted as saying he was "blown away" by what he saw on his visit to Notre Dame and was surprised how quickly he was able to change his mind on Stanford.

Credit is owed to one of the Irish who is yet to play in an actual game as Manti Te'o was very helpful in recruiting aspects. Both Te'o and Badger are Mormon and attended a church service together over the weekend, something that sold Badger on the university.

Badger becomes the second defensive back to commit to the Fighting Irish with the other being Lo Wood, which occurred just days ago. After bringing in zero defensive backs in the 2009 recruiting class, it is of utter importance that the Irish do well in that area this year. With both Wood and Badger now committed, the Irish are off to a solid start at the position. Both players are touted as three star recruits, so, adding both more numbers as well slightly more touted players would be ideal in Notre Dame's case.

Although the 2009 recruiting class failed to pick up any defensive backs, the 2008 class is shaping up to be very solid at the position. Robert Blanton has shown signs of brilliance in one year on campus as he had a pick-6 against Purdue as well as what was called an "outstanding game" by Charlie Weis against USC. Dan McCarthy and Jamoris Slaughter were both also in this class, but did not see any game action in 2008.

Badger has a body size of 6'0'', 178 pounds while his forty time is listed at 4.65 seconds. For comparisons sake Wood checks in at 5'10'', 165 with a forty time of 4.58. Badger will be a safety for the Fighting Irish in the future. His videos show him to be outstanding against the run while be able to deliver the big hit on receivers.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Chris Badger!

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