Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Michigan and Ohio State Squeezing the Irish out

It was not long ago that Notre Dame invited as many 4- and 5-star athletes as possible to the USC game in South Bend in hopes of pulling off a recruiting coup that would once again establish the Irish as national championship contenders.

Right up to signing day, Irish fans were trumpeting their potential signings as if it were the second coming. The only problem is that many of the 4- and 5-star players signed elsewhere.

Despite the late signing of Davonte Neal, the Irish are still third place behind the prodigious efforts of Michigan and Ohio State. And it will not get better in the years to come.

Michigan, which placed between ninth and 13th in the final polls last year, returns their starting QB, while Notre Dame does not, wallowing in a pool of quicksand filled with indecision. Ohio State, despite its oft-chronicled problems last year, returns an experienced QB that was one of the top QBs in high school in 2010.

Michigan’s coach Brady Hoke is in hand-to-hand combat with Urban Meyer’s staff at Ohio State for every top prospect in the region. Neither seems to be concerned about Notre Dame taking any of these recruits away.

Hoke already has 11 pledges for 2013, with 5-star QB Shane Morris leading the pack. Many scouts believe that he could be the top signal-caller for 2013.

In addition, DB Dymonte Thomas, DE Wyatt Shallman and OL Christopher Fox are all recruits with the potential to be quality starters.

Coupled with an outstanding class in 2012, including several top offensive linemen, Michigan seems set for years to come.

At the same time, Urban Meyer and his star-studded staff at Ohio State got off to a great start in 2011 after being granted an unusual exemption by the NCAA to recruit while another coach prepared the team for a bowl game.

What other school could receive such favorable treatment as Ohio State has the past two years?

Despite the issues from "Pryorgate," Meyer snagged 5-star recruits Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington away from competitors along with highly touted 4-star players such as Tommy Schutt and David Perkins from South Bend, Indiana, from right under the noses of Irish recruiters.

With Penn State’s immediate future in question, it appears that Michigan and Ohio State will reap immediate recruiting benefits. Throw in the fact that Bill O’Brien is a fledgling college coach, and it remains to be seen whether Penn State can return to its former glory within the foreseeable future.

If Meyer can be as successful coming in toward the end of the 2011-2012 recruiting cycle, then just imagine what he can achieve with a full year to establish himself. He could dominate the recruiting landscape in the region as well as he did at Florida.

The Buckeyes already have four commitments including early headliner RB/ATH Jalin Marshall.

For Notre Dame, there are just questions to be answered. Brian Kelly has proven to be an excellent coach at previous stops. But he did not have to compete with Ohio State and Michigan on a daily basis for recruits. Nor did he have to compete nationally with Stanford and USC for recruits who would normally commit to the Irish.

The next two years are pivotal for Brian Kelly and Irish fans. Another 6-6 or 7-5 record could undermine the confidence of impatient Irish fans as well as the school’s administration.

The likelihood of Urban Meyer’s success at Ohio State after Notre Dame was unsuccessful in hiring him several years ago will only make Kelly’s progress more difficult and offer unwanted comparisons.

Only time will tell for the Irish. But the odds are not in their favor. In the end, it is up to Kelly and his staff to "coach ‘em up," and anything less will be considered a failure.

But the first sign of impending failure is always losing recruiting battles to its regional rivals Ohio State and Michigan. The Irish are on a difficult path right now that does not seem likely to change in the near future.