The Best Damn Recruiting Board

Not sure which article you are talking about star69...can you pass it along so I can take a look?

Wisconsin site ran a story two/three days ago, It's free to read.

Ditto! Wouldn't be surprised if the OSU coaches felt the same way!

Not saying this is life or death but Jaylon Smith just retweeted some screef saying:
@JaeeSmiff9ENT hauerman picks ND over osu let's get big dawg!!!!go Irish we need beasts on d!!!

Not a good sign for now

Yea! OL are a big priority were not getting very many.

I enjoy your posts they are well thought out and I agree that OSU does have a lot to offer. In the realm of academics I do believe that very few upper level D-1 programs can offer what ND does, with that said OSU is a very quality school that you are correct in saying has a large national alumni base. Of those points I do not disagree. And I am always glad to read when fans take pride in the academics of their school, happens too infrequently in this age of major college sports in my opinion.

My only point of contention with your post would be the traveling point. ND travels as well or better then any team in college football, whether it is a bowl game or one of the many cross-country games the Irish play each year. I will site the last two bowl games as a reference. Alamo bowl- first sell out and it happened quicker than any non BCS game that year. Last years Champs Sports Bowl- sold out ND's share of tickets in under 24 hours. And the game itself, again, one of the few non BCS bowls to sell out at all, with at least half being Irish fans, not bad considering the game was a short jaunt from the FSU campus. ND is a national program that always attracts attention, sometimes as much hate as love haha.

Enjoy reading your posts just thought I might jump in on this one.

Just caught wind, Jaylon and his father are visiting ND tomorrow.

we need to get him to visit cbus. if that happens game over

Any word on his visit to SB this weekend?

the quote I read was " loved it" they did say they would be visiting tOSU soon. Tonight it was reported he's heading back to ND the weekend of June 14. Have commits Onwuala, Heuerman, Butler, and possibly Zaire visiting to spend time with Anzalone, Smith, and possibly Rochell and Robinson.

I agree with you about his ability to step in and play behind a tremendous defensive line. He looks like he could step on the field soon, even with the great LB crop we recruited last year (actually, this year). He certainly has a MUCH better chance of playing for a national championship at OSU. I'm not going to knock the academics at ND. They're top notch. I don't know what he plans to major in, but they might have a better program than OSU in the major he wants to pursue. Who knows? Ohio State could be better in his major, though, too.

I would imagine that Smith is a #1 Target for us but in reality (and I have no sound evidence to support my thought) my gut feeling is that he will go to Notre Shame. However if realignment occurs as quickly as latest reports indicate the Shame Rocks could be a team without a country and unless they make a move toward realignment it might be a deterient in his decision.

ND will not be a top ten program until they do one of two things. They must either:

1. Relax their schedule or
2. Loosen academic requirements for elite football players

Playing USC, Michigan, Stanford, Miami, Oklahoma, Pitt, BC, BYU, and Michigan State in the same season is not going to get your program healthy. Say what you want about ND, but this schedule is daunting. There are a handful of teams in the country that could go 10-2 consistently against this caliber of competition, let alone undefeated.

Lou Holtz was hired to return ND to National prominence. Before he accepted the job, he explained what that would take. Lou had carte blanche to take athletes that either did not qualify as freshman or would not have qualified at ND under any circumstances. Chris Zorich, starting nose tackle for the Irish, scored below 800 on his SAT but was admitted. There were 6-8 guys per year that Lou could recruit that were on the academic fringe of qualifying anywhere, let alone ND. Eventually, as his number of wins approached Knute Rockne's, he was told he would no longer be afforded that luxury. Not coincidentally, he left in the wake of the first NCAA major violations in ND's history. That's the way these things end.

I would certainly disagree with any assertion that ND is, or ever has been, irrelevant in football. Irrelevant football teams don't negotiate their own exclusive multi-million dollar tv deals to broadcast all home football games. One could argue they are not as competitive on the national football landscape as it pertains to the BCS, but I would love to be telling recruits that you will be on national TV everytime you play a game here. It is not a hard sell.