The fluidity of the recruiting process

I think it is a good time to talk about recruiting as a whole, and how fluid the process is in general. Working for a national recruiting site has to be one of the most interesting jobs I can think of as a big time sports fan. These guys are dealing with high school kids, and most have no idea what they want. Recruits say something one day and contradict it the next. We hear good news one day that turns to bad the next. Most importantly, these kids want to be loved. I don’t mean this in a bad way toward recruits in general, as they all have different ways in which they respond to situations. Some fall in love with a school and the other players that are set to join them, but this seems to be the least common type. Some need to have a great relationship with a coach or coaching staff and feel comfortable that way. If turnover happens, they bolt. Some want early playing time and need reassurance from the staff that they will play an important role early on. And some… well, some can’t handle any sort of adversity. The process needs to run smoothly with no hiccups along the way.

In regards to Notre Dame, the recruiting process is much more unpredictable than at other schools when you throw all of these factors in. A small, religious university in snowy South Bend, Indiana that places a great deal of priority on academics doesn’t sound to attractive without Notre Dame’s name next to it. That alone automatically eliminates Notre Dame in the eyes of some recruits, and hurts their chances with many others. We say this a lot as fans, but it takes a special type of kid to come to Notre Dame. It is going to be a grind and it can take a kid out of his comfort zone, but it can also be highly rewarding if the challenge is accepted.

Now, we take a look at everything Notre Dame football is going through right now, and nothing should come as a surprise. The team just finished a 4-8 season, and there has been a rash of staff changes. Many of these recruits are worried or confused, but who can blame them? Add that to the other factors that make other big time schools more attractive and it is easy to see why Notre Dame’s 2017 class is in a state of flux.

With all this said, it is important to clarify that many top recruits want to play at Notre Dame. It shows in recruiting year in and year out, and it shows right now after a complicated past few months with Notre Dame still sitting in the top 15 in the country in recruiting. When Notre Dame is good, recruits speak highly about tradition, networking, and National Championship aspirations. When Notre Dame is mediocre, all of sudden that snow becomes just a tad colder; the academic rigors become a tad scarier; the 5,000 student campus becomes a tad smaller. In short, Notre Dame now doesn’t appeal as well to 17 year high school seniors.

It is important to ride this wave and hope the newly implemented staff can turn the play on the field around because that alone will solve a lot of problems. Dwelling on the negatives is the easy way out, but the new guys deserve our patience. If this staff can make Notre Dame better in the long run, it will be easy to forget these past few months. Losing a few commitments is going to happen, and it already has, but hopefully the team is better for it going forward.