Notre Dame Recruiting: Why Recent Recruiting Haul Is a Sign of Irish Resurgence
While most teams in the country are currently running spring practices and examining their recruits from the 2012 class, the Irish spent the weekend locking up some of the top recruits from the 2013 class. Who cares if it's only March—it's never too early to get a head start in this crazy and competitive recruiting world.
Although we may be a little over a month removed from the 2012 national signing day, Notre Dame already has commitments from seven recruits for 2013. A total of four of them gave their commitment over the weekend.
Three of those four players are 4-star offensive linemen that include Mike McGlinchey, Hunter Biven and Colin McGolvern. All are huge guys at 6'6" or taller and tip the scales at above 260 pounds. They all also had offers on the table from other top programs, including Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida and Penn State, among others.
Then, of course, there was the commitment of 4-star dual-threat quarterback Malik Zaire, who was another player who had offers from schools such as Alabama, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Ohio State, among others.
“I just thought it was one of those special opportunities you can’t pass up,” Zaire said. “It’s just something I wanted to be a part of.”
And that's the quote that sticks out the most, considering the Irish aren't exactly the same program they were several years ago. This is a school that's only won two bowl games since 1994 and has a combined 16-10 record the last two seasons under head coach Brian Kelly—which isn't exactly what many Irish fans were hoping for when they originally signed him to a five year deal.
But with these commitments, it shows that players still want to play for Notre Dame and have not yet given up on the program or coach Kelly, even if many in the media have. Although the results haven't quite paid off yet and things haven't exactly gone Notre Dames way, there are still top recruits out there who believe in what Kelly is doing and the direction he's leading this program.
As long as the talent continues to pour in for the Irish, you have to believe that this team won't go away and will eventually turn things around.
As it is, these recent commitments also don't include 4-star offensive tackle Steve Elmer, who committed back in September of last year.
“One of the better groups in the country,” 247Sports.com national recruiting writer Steve Wiltfong said.
The wait for Notre Dame to fulfill expectations may finally end sooner than later.
