Irish putting faith in future
It has been a season of misery for Notre Dame, so let's start with something novel—good news.
The Irish have received 19 commitments from recruits, and even though "de-committing" has become something of a trend among high school seniors, the recruiting analysts don't expect them to stray.
"We've checked with almost every one over the last two weeks," said Jeremy Crabtree, national analyst for Rivals.com. "The vibe we've gotten is that they're still excited about being part of the building process. They realize it's a young team and look at it as, 'Hey, we've got a chance to come in and play pretty quickly.' "
Now for the bad news. Even if Notre Dame secures its third consecutive stellar recruiting class, there's no assurance the Irish coaches will develop that talent.
Consider this. Two players, both undersized Floridians, stood out for their speed at January's Army All-American Bowl: Noel Devine and Armando Allen.
Devine chose West Virginia, and last week he carved up Maryland's defense for 125 yards on his first three carries. Armando Allen chose Notre Dame, where he has rushed 20 times for 60 yards.
"Miami was going crazy trying to recruit Armando Allen," CSTV recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said. "They told him he could start right away. Now you watch him and he seems to be tripping over his own feet."
Or the feet of his offensive linemen, who seem directly responsible for this embarrassing fact: Notre Dame is the nation's only Division I-A team without an offensive touchdown.
No one could have predicted that a Charlie Weis offense would produce 57 points per game fewer than Oklahoma's, but Lemming did envision a major falloff after he panned the Irish's 2004 and 2005 recruiting classes.
"When you have two bad classes in a row, it usually spells disaster," Lemming said. "And they had two disastrous classes—the worst in their history. They were lower-level MAC classes."
Just seven players remain from Tyrone Willingham's 2004 class, 14 more from the 2005 class that was a combined Willingham/Weis production. Even the best of those 21 players—senior linebacker Maurice Crum Jr. and junior safety David Bruton—are not making much of an impact.
On signing day, Rivals.com had only three players from the 2004 class and four from the '05 class rated among the 20 best at their positions.
The 2006 class had 15 players in the top 20 at their positions and eight in the top five. The smaller 2007 class had 11 in the top 20, including four in the top five: quarterback Jimmy Clausen (1), Armando Allen (2), tight end Mike Ragone (3) and offensive tackle Matt Romine (3).
Rivals.com rates the 2008 class, with those 19 early commitments, the nation's best.
Lemming calls it "maybe Notre Dame's best class in 17 years."
That's if the vast majority of those 19 remain committed—and assuming the Irish can add skill-position stars with their remaining half-dozen offers.
What could hurt Notre Dame—on top of a possible 0-8 start—is what transpired with quarterback Demetrius Jones, a popular Chicagoan who has left the program to transfer to Northern Illinois.
"Demetrius is a very outgoing, gregarious kid, and I can tell you his personality helped Notre Dame in its recruiting," said Tim O'Halloran, Rivals.com's Chicago area analyst. "After he committed, he played a big part in helping them get verbals."
Jones started the season opener but was benched after attempting just three passes. His package of plays looked something like this: QB draw, QB sweep. QB draw. He rushed 12 times for 28 yards, fumbling twice.
Did he get a fair shot?
"I don't think it was a true, fair chance," said Mickey Pruitt, the former Bear and current football coordinator for the Chicago Public League.
And because of that, Pruitt said, Notre Dame could get a cold shoulder from future Public League recruits.
"I can't tell you that it won't hurt," he said.
Notre Dame's 2008 class has two Chicagoans—linebacker Steven Filer from Mt. Carmel and defensive end Darius Fleming from St. Rita, both Catholic Leaguers. O'Halloran said Jones helped sway them to Notre Dame, "and when kids commit that early, they're always reconsidering.
"I guarantee you Illinois will have assistants out at St. Rita or Mt. Carmel in the next couple of weeks."
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