Notre Dame Recruiting: Gunner Kiel Will Be Answer to Fighting Irish's Prayers

The only force on this earth more powerful than the Luck of the Irish is the force of a mother's nagging love.

It seems both of these forces led Gunner Kiel to decommit from LSU and to commit to Notre Dame on Tuesday.

If you're just now joining us, the Fighting Irish announced via their website today that Kiel will be attending Notre Dame as an early-enrollee freshman.

Kiel released a statement about his decision to attend Notre Dame:

"

This recruitment process was a roller-coaster ride at times, but I know I have made the right decision for my family and me. There were three critical elements I was looking for in my future school: the quality of education I would receive, the distance from home and the comfort level I would have with the players and coaches in the football program. Notre Dame was the perfect fit for me because it hit all three areas.

"

Sounds reasonable enough, but he forgot to mention one thing, and that's that his mother helped steer him towards South Bend.

We know this because Michael Scarborough of Rivals.com and TigerBait.com told the Shreveport Times that Kiel's mother, Aleta, couldn't bear the thought of him leaving for Louisiana.

"From what I have been told, he is no longer coming to LSU," said Scarborough on Monday night. "He wants to come to LSU, but his mother got very emotional Monday and did not want her son to leave. He plans to enroll in classes at Notre Dame on Tuesday."

Those familiar with Kiel's story will know that he changed his mind about where he wanted to play college ball not once, but twice. He was originally committed to Indiana before committing to LSU, and now he's going to Notre Dame.

You're no doubt going to find plenty of annoyed fans if you go walking around Baton Rouge, but the folks in South Bend should be jumping for joy right now. Exactly why Kiel finally landed on Notre Dame is a bit iffy, but all that should matter is that the Irish are getting the best quarterback recruit in the county.

With all respect to the recruits Brian Kelly had already secured, adding Kiel is a boost that he needed.

This is because the sky's the limit for Kiel. Rivals.com has him down as the next Peyton Manning, which essentially means that Kiel could develop into the best quarterback in the nation if he continues to get better in South Bend. In fact, it wouldn't be all surprising if Kelly chose to start him as a true freshman over Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix.

That probably won't happen, of course, but Kiel's time will come soon enough. When it does, the Irish will have a quarterback who has the potential to be better than any QB the program has had in recent years, including Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen.

If Kiel makes good on his potential, you can expect the Irish to be in the mix for spots in BCS bowls, and they could even win one with him under center.

In fact, it's possible that Kiel will be the player the Irish need to lead them to a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. It may seem like a stretch now, but keep in mind that Kelly's teams have been rock-solid away from the quarterback position. If Kiel shores up Notre Dame's QB woes, you can rest assured that the Irish will take off.

Pursuing greatness at Notre Dame is much riskier than pursuing greatness at LSU, make no mistake about that. But let's face it, winning at Notre Dame means more than winning at LSU.