Notre Dame Recruiting: Fighting Irish Can't Panic Over Loss of Ronald Darby

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish cannot afford to freak over Ronald Darby, a very talented athlete and cornerback, de-committing. 

Instead, the Fighting Irish should relish the fact they landed a talented safety over the weekend, and that Darby still has Notre Dame on his list. 

Keith Arnold of NBC Sports reported that Darby is backing out of his pledge to Notre Dame, citing track as one of the problems. 

"I like Notre Dame, don’t get me wrong, I love it. But I’m a good track runner as well and Notre Dame is a football powerhouse, not really a track one,” Darby said.

Darby will now look to Clemson, Florida State, Auburn and LSU, but the Fighting Irish still have a chance since they also remain on his list.  

Since Notre Dame has excelled in changing the minds of star recruits before, the news of Darby de-committing is no reason to panic. 

On Saturday, 4-star safety Elijah Shumate committed to Notre Dame, so the future of Fighting Irish's secondary is still in good hands, but Notre Dame still needs to get Darby back or find a replacement to be much better off.  

With Darby no longer committed, this could mean Shumate's high-school teammate Yuri Wright might consider Notre Dame much more. The Fighting Irish are near the top of his list as well, and since Darby is now out of the picture, Wright having the chance to play with his teammate looks even more enticing.

Rivals has Darby ranked as the sixth-best corner, but they have Wright has the third-best corner. 

Darby has the blazing speed and is considered a better all-around athlete than Wright because of his return skills, but when focusing just on the corner position, Wright has the edge in his coverage abilities. 

Brian Kelly is going to fight to get Darby back, but if he's able to get Wright, then it isn't too big of a loss if his attempts to get Darby back are unsuccessful. 

There are just a few weeks remaining until National Signing Day, which means Kelly and his staff are low on time and must land more top recruits. 

Since Darby de-committed, there is more pressure placed on Notre Dame to pick up the pieces and still keep a top-notch recruiting class, but panicking wouldn't end well. 

Time may be running out, but Kelly is fully capable of salvaging the class of 2012 and staying in the top 15. Although, in order to do that, he'll have to get Darby back or land Wright instead. 

Notre Dame can't afford to miss out on both players because the future of the secondary depends on it. 

In all honesty, Kelly should pick the one he wants more and focus solely on him. Of course, this won't happen because the proper way to handle this is to make sure Darby still feels loved at Notre Dame, all the while courting Wright and ensuring that he'll be a star for the Fighting Irish no matter what. The trials and tribulations on the recruiting trail aren't easy.  

Recruiting is a difficult task, but the key is to stay calm and keep your cool or you'll strike out. We've seen Kelly explode on the sidelines before, so hopefully he isn't stressing too much over the loss of Darby.