Notre Dame's 5 Signing-Day Priorities

With just days to go before national signing day, Brian Kelly and his coaching staff are making their final moves before returning to South Bend, Indiana, and waiting for the fax machine to ring. 

Years of work identifying and building relationships with recruits will come down to Wednesday, when Kelly will announce a 2015 recruiting class that—almost by accident—grew to become one of the best groups in the country. 

Right now, Notre Dame has 22 verbal commitments, with four early enrollees already on campus. If all goes according to the plan on Wednesday, it should end the day with a full 25. 

But before we get there, let's look at the five signing-day priorities for Notre Dame as it moves into the 2015 season. 

Hold Down the Fort

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Defending the home turf is priority No. 1 right now. And that means making sure all of Notre Dame's verbal commitments stay with the Irish through the finish line. 

That's easier said than done. 

Brian Kelly is taking no chances, holding his in-home visits as late as possible in the cycle, with his coaching staff out on the road doing the same thing. 

It's not just elite recruits like Aliz'e Jones who need monitoring. Relatively under-the-radar 3-star safety Mykelti Williams is apparently getting some late interest from Ohio State and notorious recruit-poacher Urban Meyer. 

Per Irish 247, Williams has rebuffed the interest. But it's a reminder that it's not just the top blue chippers who need attention. 

Land Dexter Williams

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Notre Dame appears in the driver's seat for 4-star running back Dexter Williams. But recruiting coordinator Tony Alford is busy holding off a charge of top schools who are all over Williams to take an official visit to somewhere else this weekend. 

Pete Sampson at Irish Illustrated caught up with Williams' high school coach, Bob Head, who seems to be in Notre Dame's corner:

"

They all wanted him to go somewhere, we're trying to not let that happen. He could have went to A&M. He could have went to Michigan. We're trying to keep everything settled, keep the waters still, if you know what I'm saying. It's hard. These schools are coming in hard because they're losing guys and pushing extremely hard.

"

All signals point to Williams essentially being a silent commit. But closing the deal is crucial, especially with the staff wanting to bring in two running backs in the class. 

Sign Equanimeous St. Brown

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Notre Dame made the big step of offering Equanimeous St. Brown's younger brother Osiris, a talented 2017 wide receiver. That alone seems to point to the Irish getting into the St. Brown business, starting with the 4-star receiver the Irish have pursued since the beginning of this recruiting cycle.

The Under Armour All-American is a key piece to the final puzzle for the Irish, joining Miles Boykin and Jalen Guyton in the 2015 class at wide receiver. At 6'5", St. Brown gives the Irish some much-needed length at the position, capable of stepping into Corey Robinson's role once the Academic All-American's days in South Bend are over.

Adding size to the receiving corps seemed to be a theme this year. Also joining St. Brown and Boykin (6'4") in the group is 6'4.5", 4-star tight end Aliz'e Jones, who flipped from UCLA after seeing how the Irish have produced NFL tight ends like Tyler Eifert, Troy Niklas and Kyle Rudolph. 

St. Brown expects to make his announcement live on ESPN next Wednesday. It'd be a shock if he picked anybody but the Irish.

Add a Safety to the Class

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This is where things get interesting. 

Notre Dame is in hot pursuit of three different safety prospects, with Louisiana's Justin Reid and California's Nathan Meadors recently taking official visits. The Irish are hosting former Stanford commit Arrington Farrar this weekend, hoping to get a commitment from the Atlanta 4-star safety on signing day.

With the loss of Prentice McKinney, Notre Dame badly needs to add a third safety to the duo of Mykelti Williams and Nicco Fertitta. And Farrar will be getting his first look at campus this weekend, with the Irish hoping to replicate their success from last year, when they hosted Daniel Cage on recruiting's final weekend and got his commitment just days later.

With Eilar Hardy transferring and Nicky Baratti's most recent shoulder injury putting his future in doubt, the Irish need to restock the depth chart at safety. Adding one more to the recruiting class is a priority. 

Move into Spring Football with Momentum

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Notre Dame pulled off a huge victory in the Music City Bowl against LSU. Its recruiting class will likely be a top-10 group. Now it needs to continue the momentum rolling into a big 2015. 

That means getting through the next month without any negative headlines. And it means a 15-session spring football that should only make news for the play on the field.  

Senior Everett Golson will battle rising junior Malik Zaire for the starting quarterback job. A battered defense will return healthy and ready to enter a second season in Brian VanGorder's system. 

But just as important as any on-field development, Brian Kelly's team needs to handle its business in the classroom, something that's been difficult the past two seasons. After Everett Golson's suspension turned 2013 upside down, the loss of five key players in August all but killed last season as well. 

The Irish coaching staff has taken pride in recruiting high-character student-athletes to Notre Dame. Now it's the players' job to dig in and move forward with a headline-free offseason. 

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand. All recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.