Notre Dame Football Recruiting: 4-Star Defensive Tackle Interested in Irish

Upon becoming head coach at Notre Dame, Brian Kelly made it clear that putting a top-notch defense on the field was key to achieving success.

The first step toward building a stellar defense is recruiting elite players along the defensive line.

Notre Dame runs a 3-4 scheme, making it crucial for the coaching staff to go after blue-chip defensive tackles.

The Fighting Irish may be in luck with one of the nation's best defensive tackles, Jarron Jones.

After committing to Penn State, Jarron Jones got cold feet about becoming a Nittany Lion and made the choice to de-commit.

He recently gave his thoughts on the situation.

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“It was really a better way for me to explore my options. All four schools (Notre Dame, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Penn State) have an equal chance at me and we’ll see where we go from there."

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The most interesting part of his de-commitment from Penn State is that it immediately followed an unofficial visit to Notre Dame.

Following that unofficial visit to campus, Jarron Jones had some good things to say about Notre Dame.

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"Notre Dame is a smaller school and that’s the kind of place I need to be.  Aquinas is a smaller school and I’ve been doing a lot better there.  It’s just a better way to explore my options.”

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All signs indicate that Jarron Jones has pushed the Irish to the top of his list.

If he chooses to sign with Notre Dame, it would be the biggest commitment of the Brian Kelly era because of the importance of having a monster defensive tackle for a stout 3-4 defense.

It would also give the staff an heir apparent to current standout defensive tackle Louis Nix.

With Stephon Tuitt and Aaron Lynch set to be the starting defensive ends in 2012, the duo will help form a ferocious defensive line around Louis Nix and, hopefully, Jarron Jones.

That sounds like a national championship-caliber defensive line if you ask me.

Just food for thought.