A few quotes from ESPN re: Bama vs ND Recruiting
1. Of the four playoff teams this season, Alabama has signed the most ESPN 300 recruits from 2016 to 2020 with 92. Ohio State is next with 73, followed by Clemson (60) and Notre Dame (47).
The Crimson Tide have actually signed more top-100 recruits in that time span -- 49 -- than Notre Dame has ESPN 300 recruits. Diving further into those numbers, Alabama signed 31 top-50 recruits, nine ranked as five-stars.
2. Class rankings
It shouldn't be a surprise to learn Alabama has not signed a class lower than No. 6 in the rankings over the past five cycles. In fact, the program has signed the No. 1 class twice (2017 and 2019), the No. 2 class in 2016, the No. 3 class in 2020 and the No. 6 class in 2018.
The program has an average class ranking of 2.6 from 2016 to 2020.
3. ESPN 300 recruits
Of the four playoff teams, Notre Dame has had the fewest ESPN 300 recruits over the past five cycles. With 47 of the top 300 prospects, Notre Dame is bucking a trend where teams that lead the way in landing top prospects have made the playoff.
The Irish have signed only 10 top-100 prospects over the past five recruiting cycles, compared to 49 for Alabama, 34 for Ohio State and 30 for Clemson.
4. Compared to Alabama's nine five-star signees, Notre Dame hasn't had any in the same span, but has built a stout defense and used its strength along the offensive line to move its offense forward.
Of the 47 ESPN 300 recruits Notre Dame signed, 12 were along the offensive line, which shows the success the Irish have had at recruiting the position group and the emphasis up front to ensure great line play throughout the past few years.
5.The Irish are also the lowest of all the playoff teams in average class ranking over the past five cycles. Alabama averaged a ranking of 2.6, Ohio State had an average ranking of 6.0 and Clemson was not far behind at 6.8.
Notre Dame has averaged a class ranking of 13.8 from 2016 to 2020, with its highest-ranked class coming in 2018 at No. 9 overall. The staff has had two classes ranked 16th and two at No. 14.
No team has won the national championship in the playoff era without landing at least one top-five recruiting class in the four years prior to winning, and every winner has averaged better than a top-10 class ranking for those four years. The question becomes if Notre Dame can break that trend and become the first, or if the talent acquired over the past five recruiting cycles by Alabama will be too much and eliminate Notre Dame from contention.
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I'm posting this to show that ND is/has over-achieved in recent years, relative to the talent. And to demonstrate that, in my opinion, ND needs more talent, not necessarily another coach. Although, if Kelly can't manage to bring in more top-level players, then maybe he does need to be shown the door.
Link: Bama vs ND from ESPN
Replies to: A few quotes from ESPN re: Bama vs ND Recruiting
ND admin wants to make sure that the Leahy years never return. Academics will drive this wagon......
..........not football. There should be plenty of 4 and 5 stars who fit the ND profile (character, academics, etc). BK has to figure out how to seal the deal with these dudes. This RKG 3 star stuff will work against Carolina and USC , until the Trojans get a better HC, but it's not going to fly against the big three. Just because a recruit is a 4 or 5 star doesn't mean he's a gangsta.
The comparison should be Clemson. Not Bama or even OSU
Bama and OSU are on a different page when it comes to schooling and recruting...etc.
And no Clemson is not ND when it comes to admissions. That being said...
The No team in the "playoff era" sure, how long has that been? But prior to that...go look at Dabo and Clemson's average class before their first NC. Ranked lower than ND's average. So I couldn't careless about all this regarding Bama. Clemson beat them with overall talent at or below NDs. You wanna say 4-star Deshaun Watson was a generational talent...ok...go ahead. Who knows if 4-star Jurko, 4-star Kizer, 4-star Hendrix, 4-star Wimbush or 5-star Crist, couldn't have been that with the right coach developing them. Easy to say ohh...they're not Watson after Watson had Dabo and co guiding him and these guys had BK and co guiding them. Now, Lawrence is for sure a generational talent. But the guys around him? No 5-star RB, no 5-star WR, no 5-star TE, no 5-star OL. All of which ND has. The gap shouldn't look this bad when both squads are on the field. I'll give them the nod because of TL but my goodness if you can't see the difference in how these squads are coached...you're not looking.
That's just silly. Their talent is near the top every year, ours is very good and we can play and
beat them but their talent is better though not by that much. They have had back to back difference makers as QBs.
Given the national audience ND garners, kelly should be able to go toe-to-toe with any school for
services of an elite QB. Case in point, more people know Ian Book's name than Mac Jones. Although, to your point, what would Kelly do with them anyway. Better to recruit RKG's. If they work out, it's a great story. If they don't, they didn't have the natural talents to be great.
but are they RKGs? Do they really care about the next 40 years?
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Serious question, would you be ok if ND just ditched all that and played by the same rules as
everyone else?
I'm not asking if ND can recruit better under the current rules they play by.
I’m asking if you specifically wants them to play by the same rules as Alabama. Grey shirt, JUCO’s, limited academic requirements to get in, limited academic requirements when in school, limited discipline outside of football? Likely more back room deals?
Generally curious. Seems like ND fans get frustrated with the 4 for 40 stuff so I often wonder if they would be ok with giving up the standards if it meant they won big.
There are things Alabama does I do not endorse, however, it is beyond arrogant for so many to assume
any player who doesn't go to ND, Stanford or Duke doesn't care about an education. The "he obviously doesn't care about his education" phrase is uttered too often on this board. ND football players are allowed lower academic entrance requirements than the student body at large, so I'll throw the question back to you. Hasn't ND already ditched its rules to win on the football field? What is the acceptable grey area in your mind?
You know the "he doesn't care about education" is sour grapes.
I think that it is much closer to 100% of players at ND and Stanford that care about their education, and the school also is 100% for the player's education. I don't feel like that is the same at many other schools.
Probably right, but it is also missing the point
At Alabama I can care about academics a ton. I can come in early, go to summer school, take a full load second semester, graduate in 5 years, and make sure my fall class schedule is “light”.
This allows me to still achieve my academic goals but also be able to focus on my athletic goals in season. More rest, film watching, less stress, etc.
At ND that isn’t an option. You have to graduate in 4 years.
I get that, I wasn't really speaking to that point.
As I understand it, Stanford has assumed something more like that model as well.
I actually like that we want our athletes to graduate in four years with a four year degree, but I would not be averse to allowing it to be stretched out to four and a half or five years.
I have heard stories from athletes at colleges like Georgia Southern where once you are a starter, you do not actually do any schoolwork anymore. One guy was a three year starter on the O-Line, he flat out said I got a four year degree and only did the work my freshman year. But at least he got a degree. I have also read articles before about the athletes who did not make it at places like Auburn, who end up off scholarship, and end up with no degree. I would not want that to happen at Notre Dame.
I also did not attend ND.
I asked a question, you’re assuming I have those thoughts
I didn’t go to ND so I think my opinion doesn’t matter as much. You seemed to have an opinion so I asked a question that I’m generally curious about.
Not my degree to worry about, however, I think those that think it would devalue this degree don’t understand branding and the power of 4 hour commercials on Saturday afternoons.
Having played at a fairly high level, MAC, I generally think the notion of football first at most schools is true. Not saying ND players aren’t football first, but the commitment to academics isn’t a choice. We all know the rules:
Graduate in 4.
No “light” semesters.
Less bending on attendance
I’m sure there are more.
Now, as you said, plenty of Bama kids care about academics and plenty could get into ND, but the balance is different. I never took a full load in season. Took summer classes and full loads second semester. My falls were light in both classes and difficulty. That was a “suggestion” by academic advisor who was the advisor for athletes.
As with all things, there is certainly a balance, but I’m not the one to answer it. Again, you seemed to have the opinion so was hoping you’d give an answer.
Notre Dame players go to summer school as well
And there are plenty of light majors at ND
Still not really the point
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I think ND should take any kid who can succeed in school, possibly with the help of a tutor.
I think the ND administration gets too involved with discipline.
Fair
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Exactly there are serious students at all the schools. The difference for ND is they want to make
sure every player they recruit has a real shot at graduating.
You just can't look at athletics in that case, they do the same for underrepresented minorities and
big donors, so it's not like ND is doing things just for athletics.
You're also missing all the extras that athletes get at places like Bama, Clemson, and Oregon, with their lavish football facilities and extra services.
I’ve heard announcers say ND’s facilities take a back seat to no one
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They come in at 14th in this anecdotal list
Not sure facilities are the issue but my guess is ND is spending the least % of money to revenue towards facilities than the other major football powers.
Link: https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/college-football-recruiting-2020-facilities-Alabama-Clemson-Ohio-State-LSU-Texas-Georgia-Florida-142838731/#142838731_2
No.
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Nice post
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I think, deep down, you know the answer...
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David (ND) vs. Goliath (Bama).
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