Notre Dame Football: Will Urban Meyer's Exit Impact the 2011 Recruiting Class?

With Urban Meyer making the surprise announcement that he will step down from the head coaching position of the Florida Gators following the January 1st Outback Bowl, Notre Dame fans had to wonder if this move will impact the 2011 recruiting class. At first glance the answer is most likely no. The Gators have 17 verbal commits right now, 12 of those are homegrown Florida talent, and the impression is that they will stay put.

As for those who may be interested, Kyle Christy is a two-star kicker from Brownsburg Indiana, but the Irish have a verbal from kicker Kyle Brindza who is the sixth rated kicker in the nation, one would guess that Christy would pass. Chase Hounshell is a 6'5" 242lb three-star offensive lineman out of Kirtland Ohio, he could be of interest being from the Midwest and the Irish are still in need at this position, with only two verbal commits in Conor Hanratty and Matt Hegarty.

Two more out of state offensive linemen are Tommy Jordan a 6'5" 280 lb three-star prospect from Ridgefield, CT and Trip Thurman, 6'6" 308lb four-star athlete from Dover, DE. Rounding out the group of out of state recruits is Valdez Showers, a 5'11" 180lb defensive back from Madison Heights, Michigan; he is a three-star recruit. The Irish have five verbals from defensive backs at this time, with some real talent in Josh Atkinson and Jalen Brown as well as new commit, Bennett Okotcha.

Looking at the Gators in-state verbals, the two running backs are Mike Blakely out of Bradenton, whose only visit was to Auburn before he committed to the Gators and Hunter Joyce from Tampa who took no visits. Neither of these young men had any interest in Notre dame before Urban Meyer's announcement and I wouldn't think that there would be any now. The same is true for the lone wide receiver for the Gators, Ja'Jaun Story.

Notre Dame's master recruiting list from March 2010 has none of the current Florida Gators recruits listed, so it would appear that Notre Dame didn't have much interest before Meyer's resignation, and that the way this recruiting class is shaping up, it might be wise to leave Florida alone.

Although Florida is ranked the number nine recruiting class to Notre Dame's number 12, coming down the stretch Notre Dame looks to be stronger on paper. What all this means, in a nutshell, is that Urban Meyer leaving Florida will probably not impact the 2011 recruiting class of the Fighting Irish.