Notre Dame Football: Recruiting Rollercoaster Rides Again

Apparently for the football staff at Notre Dame, most of the recruiting efforts are saved for a blurry, sweaty, tense three-week period between the beginning of the spring semester and February 1 (a.k.a. National Signing Day).

For the second year in a row, a relatively quiet recruiting cycle erupted into a full-on hurricane with players de-committing, more coming in and a surprise bombshell or two wrapped up with a nice bow of suspense.

A year ago, similar games shenanigans were afoot.

In the waning days prior to signing day, Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt de-committed before being reeled back in at the last second. Also, highly-touted defensive prospect Ishaq Williams was pushed off the fence at the last moment by a 5 a.m. visit by Bob Diaco.

A recruiting class that seemed to be falling apart suddenly became one of the strongest need-filling classes in Notre Dame history.

This year, things seem somehow similar.

There was a long courtship with top-rated quarterback Gunner Kiel. He originally committed to Indiana before re-opening his recruiting.

Rumored to be favoring Notre Dame, Michigan, LSU and Vanderbilt, most thought he would follow family lineage and follow Uncle Blair to Notre Dame.

Days after Christmas, Kiel committed to LSU and announced that he planned to enroll early on Jan. 17.

Jan. 16 rolls around, and Kiel misses a mandatory meeting for early-enrolling students, and the press barrage was on.

Kiel showed up on campus at Notre Dame and enrolled at Notre Dame instead, giving the Irish their biggest recruit of the year so far.

The Kiel surprise helped smooth over negative waves following a pair of apparently shattering de-commitments.

First, Oxon Hill, Md. product Ronald Darby pulled his verbal to further explore ACC schools Florida State and Clemson.

Then, Urban Meyer pulled Vandalia, Ohio product Taylor Decker to the Buckeyes. Decker followed a pair of assistants, Tim Hinton—who was in charge of Ohio recruiting at Notre Dame—along with offensive line coach Ed Warinner.

Kiel reversed what was being perceived as a downward spiral in Notre Dame recruiting. Blood in the water had the sharks circling, as many cited this as yet another sign of Notre Dame's impending doom, if not continued mediocrity.

Kiel is expected to come in and compete with Everett Golson, Andrew Hendrix and Tommy Rees for the starting quarterback spot next season.

Also in the weeks surrounding the new year, Notre Dame picked up somewhat of a surprise commitment from safety Elijah Shumate, a 4-star recruit from Don Bosco high in New Jersey.

Hopes immediately rose in also bringing in his teammate, 4-star cornerback Yuri Wright, who is rumored to want to continue playing alongside Shumate.

The biggest fish of all is still swimming in the sea, but has a baited Irish hook hanging in plain sight.

Former USC and California commit Arik Armstead, who is enrolled at both Notre Dame and Auburn, will decide between the two schools on February 1. Formerly firmly in at Cal, Armstead not only de-committed, but removed the Bears from contention following the departure of recruiting director and defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi.

Also, Arik has voiced that he would like to play basketball and have his brother Armond (a graduate transfer coming from USC) join him so that the pair can play side-by-side for a season.

Should coach Brian Kelly manage to bring the Armstead brothers to town, it would not only add depth to the defensive line and push the Irish recruiting class up into the top five, but it could grab the attention of another key recruit.

Safety Shaq Thompson is also stewing over the departure of Lupoi and has also de-committed from Cal. Although rumors have him following Lupoi to Washington, he is interested in Notre Dame and has been close to Armstead. Flipping him would not be impossible.

Nonetheless, with the addition of Kiel, the recruiting class for Kelly has been successful.

Right now, the class is rated in the top 10 by Rivals and ESPN.

The group fills out positions of need with a pair of 4-star receivers, a 4-star running back, a pair of 4-star offensive tackles and two 4-star defensive backs.

As it stands now, the class has five additions to the defensive back field, which is without a doubt Notre Dame's biggest area of concern.

Personally, I don't put a lot of stock in star values. Charlie Weis brought in a ton of skilled 4 and 5-star recruits and never did anything with them.

I like that Kelly is getting kids that are highly touted at positions of need.

I like that there will be quality depth in the defensive backfield, rather than the usual secondary made up of converted receivers and running backs.

I like that there will be strong depth on the defensive line.

And I really like that the staff did not give up on Kiel.

Depth at quarterback is a commodity that no one can have in excess. With the giant question mark looming over the position, pulling in the top-rated player at the position has to be seen as a huge win.

Should Kelly pull in the Armstead brothers, the 2012 class could be remembered as the one that put the Irish back on top.