Who's Next? 5-7-10

A recruiting round-up following spring practice.

Commits:

Kyle Brindza, Kicker, 6-2 195, Canton, MI. Most important he plays his home games in the same high school stadium I played mine, although for a school that didn't exist while I was attending (wanna know how to feel old?). A junior on path to graduate in June and is interested in skipping his senior of high school to attend Notre Dame in September. He brings touch backs into the conversation on every kickoff. He also punts which could be big if Eric Maust decides to play pro baseball and Ben Turk is the only returning punter. Possible nicknames "20" or "Human Touch Back" or "Gus".

Brad Carrico, DE, 6-6 255, Dublin, Ohio. The first commit for the 2011 class came from the state of, you guessed it, Ohio. A position of need as defensive line is seen as a weak point at this point. He also had offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Purdue and West Virginia and comes from the high school that gave Notre Dame Chinedum Ndukwe and Brady Quinn. Any nickname suggestions?

Matthias Farley, Ath, 6-1 195, Charlotte, NC. Mostly being recruited as a wide receiver, the Irish coaches Bob Diaco and Chuck Martin have convinced him that corner back is a better place for his talent, and maybe a quicker road to the field. He caught 37 passes for 900 yards and 12 touchdowns in his only year of organized play, passing up soccer for football ala Shane Walton, although he chose it a little bit earlier than Shane. I'm thinking something Chris Farley related, "Black Sheep" or "South Bend Ninja" possibly "Dirty Work"

Jarrett Grace, ILB, 6-4 235 Cincinnati, Ohio. A player that Brian Kelly and Company began recruiting while still with the Bearcats and finished with him committing to the Irish during the festivities for the spring game. Chris Berman would suggest we call him Jarrett Grace "Kelly" so lets no do that. I like Jarret "Say" Grace

Ben Koyack, TE, 6-5 230, Oil City, PA. Another spring game visitor that committed this pasat week. He must have seen something he liked with Kyle Rudolph and Mike Ragone catching multiple passes in the spread. He chose ND over Ohio State, after trimming his choices to two, and continues the run of talented pass catching tight ends in South Bend, started oddly enough by Greg Olsen... I have nothing good here, maybe Ben "Not a Canoe" Koyack. But I don't like it.

Conor Hanratty, OL, 6-4 305, New Canaan, CT. The son of Terry Hanratty, who played QB on the 1966 National Championship team and committed after conversations with Brian Kelly over spring game weekend, his first time meeting the coach. Conor had double digit offers including Florida State and Clemson. "Honey-baked" Hanratty

Matthew Hegarty, OL, 6-5 285, Aztec, New Mexico. Matt is interested in enrolling in January and has he'll be joining the coaches in recruiting for the Irish. He is a U.S. Army All-American who will not be playing the dreaded hat game during the break in the action after committing this past week. "Six Eyes"

Jordan Prestwood, OL, 6-6 265, Plant City, FL. An early April commitment from Jordan seemed to kick off a run on offensive lineman for the Irish. He also had offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Tennesee and USC among others. "Right Direction"

Tony Springman, Ath, 6-6 257, Fort Wayne, IN. Another spring game Saturday commit, Tony joins former high school teammates Tyler Eifert and John Goodman at Notre Dame. The Irish have Tony pegged as a defensive lineman, where his speed and quickness should give him an advantage over offensive lineman. Someone named Springman does not need a nickname.

They have offers out to a Pro-Style QB Justin Worley and Dual-Threat QB's: Bubba Starling, Marquise Williams, Braxton Miller and Kiehl Frazier.

Running Backs that have offers are: Aaron Green, Justice Hayes, Malcolm Brown, Mike Bellamy, Demetrius Hart, Savon Huggins and Jameel Poteat.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends that have gotten offers from the Irish are: DeAnthony Arnett, Victor Blakwell, Phillip Dorsett, Rashad Greene, Charone Peake, Devin Smith, Ja'Juan Story, Ray Hamilton, Troy Niklas, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Kelvin Benjamin, Davaris Daniels, Hakeem Flowers, Richard Rodgers, Evan Spencer, Dan Tapko, Nick Vannett, Kasen Williams, and Jay Rome.

Offensive Lineman that have received offers are: Brendon Austin, Brey Cook, Michael Bennett, Watts Dantzler, Cyrus Hobbi, Cyrus Kouandjio, Aundrey Walker, Jay Whitmire and Antonio Richardson.

The Irish have offers out to Defensive Lineman: Sterling Bailey, Ray Drew Ishaq Williams, Brennan Scarlett, Clay Burton, ANthony Chickillo, Aaron Lynch, Giorgio Newberry, Jermauria Rasco, Chris Rock, Stephon Tuitt.

Linebackers we could see in the future that have offers are Rob Hankins, Montese Overton, Denzel Perryman, James Vaughters, Anthony Wallace, Stephone Anthony and Trey DePriest.

Defensive Backs that have offers include Jalen Brown, Blake Countess, Doran Grant, Josh Turner, Quincy Aldridge, Eilar Hardy, Lyndell Johnson, Chris Jones, Wayne Lyons.

These players don't have set positions but they do have offers from the Irish: George Atkinson III, Rodney Coe, Christian French and Brandon Phelps.

SaturDame The Spring Game 10

A reverse was the first play of the Brian Kelly era and it was effective. Armando "Double A" Allen flipped the ball to Michael "Pink" Floyd who gained a first down.

The offenses combined for 744 yards, which was to be expected since the defenses ran a simplified version of the game plan.

That number is more impressive after the 2nd half featured 12 minute quarters and a running clock (due to the weather).

The offensive showcase featured many players that will probably not be heard of again including Pat Coughlan, walk on running back who ran for 80 yards and a touch down.

Dayne Crist will only get better (hopefully) but looked a little rusty and didn't move as much as he should in the fall.

Nate Montana should be a good back-up until Tommy Rees, or others, are ready.

The running back battle between Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood was fun to watch, Cierre broke a 44 yard touchdown run (1 of 2) and was almost immediately followed by Jonas breaking off a 38 yard score.

Tai-ler "Dash" Jones, Shaq Evans and Deion Walker all appropriated themselves nicely in the offense.

Kyle Rudolph and Mike Ragone made multiple nice catches in traffic.

The shovel pass appears to be a staple in the offense and Armando should be able to pick up some yardage.

The place kicking needs a lot and I mean a lot of work. Multiple missed extra points and a horrible field goal attempt brought that to the forefront.

The no-huddle offense was a lot of fun to watch (even though it took the people sitting around me nearly the whole first half to realize it was even going on).

I'm expecting a lot of rotating of receivers in the fall and not just to keep players fresh, but because there is a plethora of talent there (thanks Charlie).

Duval Kumara, who used to hold some freshman receiving records, showed glimpses of that talent again.

There isn't much to write about the defense in a game like this but they got some interceptions and made some hits that were loud.

I can't imagine Brian Kelly being unhappy about the offenses having to deal with the rain and it wasn't awful for the fans, although umbrellas seem rude in the stands.

Of course it rained, I was at the game. I was also at the Washington game last year, downpour at halftime, and the Syracuse game the year before, freezing cold and sitting in snow. So if you're going to a game next year try to make it one that I'm not at. I don't remember the weather at the Air Force loss in the 3-9 season but it probably wasn't good.

A trip to South Bend is never a bad thing, and I got to introduce my sister (MSU grad) to the stadium and somehow she only bought two things in the gift tent, which I'm sure her husband appreciates.

Purdue can't get here fast enough. My sister referred to this game as a tease and I agree.

My Golden Tate Seahawks jersey will be ordered soon.

Stats.

Notre Dame Recruit, Matt James Dies

Link to the article on Cincinnati.com

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends.

Always Irish.