Notre Dame National Signing Day 2016: 5 Takeaways from Irish's Class
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — On a day where Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly mentioned dabs, DMs and drama, the Irish officially welcomed in a solid crop of 23 signees in their 2016 class.
“Today is a celebration,” Kelly said. “But it shouldn’t be the highlight of their career moving forward.”
There still could be more to come for Notre Dame, who have a pair of targets undeclared. In the meantime, let’s assess the Irish's class and look ahead at those careers.
No Surprises (Yet)
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With a handful of targets left on the board at the start of Wednesday, Notre Dame ended up with one commitment and few surprises.
The run on linebackers began in the morning when 5-star Alabama legacy Ben Davis pledged to the Crimson Tide by donning a Bear Bryant-themed hat. Davis is the No. 1 inside linebacker and No. 10 overall prospect in the country.
Later in the day, 4-star Houston native Jeffrey McCulloch announced his commitment to Texas, staying in-state a few weeks after he’d been scheduled to declare his decision at the Under Armour All-American Bowl.
Notre Dame did land a signing from 3-star linebacker Jonathan Jones, who picked the Irish over Michigan. Jones, who hails from Orlando, Florida, is the No. 31 outside linebacker and No. 448 overall prospect in the nation.
“Physically, maybe his lack of height scared some people away,” Kelly said. “But just great instincts as a linebacker, great leadership quality, physically strong, fit, athletic and has a great awareness in the pass game, as well. For us, just looked like the consummate linebacker.”
Notre Dame’s top two remaining targets, wide receiver Demetris Robertson and Caleb Kelly, are yet to declare. Robertson had originally been scheduled to announce Wednesday, while Kelly will choose between Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Oregon at 8:30 p.m. ET:
"OPEN TO ANYBODY DOORS WILL NOT CLOSE AT ANY TIME! TOMORROW IS FINALLY THE DAY! IM SO BLESSED! PACIFIC TIME 5:30pm 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/oId0hTs2hH
— KANAI™ (@calebkkelly) February 3, 2016"
In total, Notre Dame’s class sits at 23 members, and no one decommitted from the Irish throughout the entire cycle.
“It’s awesome,” Kelly said of the relatively drama-free day. “I think that everybody should try it once in their career.”
Offensive Line: Rinse and Repeat
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Surprise, surprise.
Position coach Harry Hiestand and company hauled in another strong group of offensive linemen.
Notre Dame pulled its top two linemen, Tommy Kraemer and Liam Eichenberg, out of Ohio and dragged a bus out of Florida in Parker Boudreaux.
Kraemer, a Cincinnati product, is the No. 3 tackle and No. 27 overall prospect in the class. He committed to the Irish all the way back in October 2014. Eichenberg, a Cleveland native, checks in as the No. 7 tackle and No. 80 recruit overall. The Under Armour All-American chose the Irish over Ohio State in mid-April, two days after he visited the Buckeyes in Columbus and nine days after he stopped in South Bend.
“Those two kids are as good as you’re going to find in the country, and couldn’t be more excited to have two kids from the state of Ohio, from two great Catholic schools,” Kelly said of the “edge guys.”
The 6’4”, 287-pound Boudreaux joins the mix and profiles on the interior of Notre Dame’s line. Kelly described Boudreaux as a “big, physical inside guy.”
“I’m not comparing him, but he’s a [Notre Dame redshirt sophomore lineman] Quenton Nelson in terms of size and physicality,” Kelly said.
With just three linemen in this class, Kelly did say offensive line will be a primary need in the 2017 class.
Secondary Help
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After a couple of light hauls at safety in recent recruiting classes, the Irish hammered the secondary in 2016.
Notre Dame inked seven defensive backs, including safeties D.J. Morgan, Spencer Perry and Devin Studstill. Donte Vaughn, Julian Love, Troy Pride Jr. and Jalen Elliott round out the group.
Asked what were the biggest needs Notre Dame filled with this class, Kelly quickly pointed to the back end of the defense.
“Certainly the safety, corner, third corner position on our defense,” Kelly said.
Perry and Studstill enrolled in January with spring practice set to begin next month.
“I think the thing that I get really excited about with Spencer is his ability to disrupt the offenses,” defensive backs coach Todd Lyght said of Perry in a video released by Notre Dame. “He’s the type of player that has position versatility. He could play at free safety. He could play at strong safety. He can line up as a nickel or outside linebacker position. … With his aggressiveness, we’ll even be able to blitz him off the edge and up the middle.”
Kelly said Studstill boasts a cornerback-like skill level to go along with the size of a safety. Lyght said in a video released by Notre Dame that Studstill will begin his career at free safety, but agreed the Florida product has cornerback coverage skills.
Kelly said he expects the defensive backs to most likely compete for immediate playing time.
“The corners certainly can come in and compete,” Kelly said. “And we’ve got a number of guys that have a skill level at those positions or we wouldn’t have recruited them. So all those corners. And I think the safeties are all capable of coming in and competing for playing time.”
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Wide Receivers Must Be Ready
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There’s no Demetris Robertson, at least not yet.
However, Notre Dame still added three wideouts Wednesday who will step into a receiving corps that loses its top three pass-catchers—Will Fuller, Chris Brown and Amir Carlisle—from 2015.
“Wide receiver has always been—as we continue to accelerate the position each and every year—one where you should come in with the mindset that I’m going to be the starter,” Kelly said.
Early enrollee Kevin Stepherson is already on campus, and signees Javon McKinley and Chase Claypool headline the group. McKinley is slotted as the No. 16 wide receiver and No. 110 overall prospect in the class, while the Canadian Claypool is the No. 33 wideout and No. 169 recruit.
“Our expectation in the recruiting process is for the wide receiver group to come in and compete to get on the field and be a player for us immediately,” Kelly said.
Kelly Confident in Defense
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Three seasons removed from Notre Dame’s elite defense that helped carry the Irish to the national championship game after an undefeated 2012 campaign, Kelly was asked about the state of the defense.
“I didn’t have to sell it,” Kelly said when asked about facing questions from recruits. “I’ve got a great defensive coordinator in Brian VanGorder, great experience, former Broyles Award winner as the outstanding assistant coach in the country.”
Kelly said the “huge change” from a 3-4 defense that played a lot of Cover 2 under former coordinator Bob Diaco to the 4-3 attacking defense with a Cover 1 emphasis under VanGorder “requires a bit of a transition.”
“We’re not where want to be defensively,” Kelly said. “But we’re going to play great defense under Brian VanGorder and the staff we’ve put together.”
Unless otherwise noted, all recruiting stats and information courtesy of 247Sports. All quotes obtained firsthand. Star ratings reflect 247Sports composite rankings.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.
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