How will the ND "scandal" affect recruiting?
I know there's front page and forum content about this development, but I didn't see anything specific to recruiting or possible transfers. How do you think this will affect the 2015 recruiting class and beyond? Do you think there will be an exodus similar to the PSU defections? Is there a chance that Crawford flips back to Michigan? Do the coaches still even want him? Thoughts?
EDIT: Mods, if this is premature or redundant, please delete.
August 15th, 2014 at 7:04 PM ^
Probably not at all. Anyone willing to spend their college years coached by Brian Kelly knows what they're getting into. And no way we try and get Crawford, the coaches have moved on to bigger and better options.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
BK Finest that shit.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
Notre Dame CB commit Shaun Crawford says the investigation has no impact on his recruitment "I understand the expectations," he said
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) August 15, 2014
August 15th, 2014 at 3:50 PM ^
are off.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:53 PM ^
Honestly wondering...
Do recruits go to Notre Dame because of Brian Kelly, or do they go because it's Notre Dame and despite Brian Kelly? For a lot of kids I have to think it's the latter.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:56 PM ^
Notre Dame is their recent history minus the 2012 season. They have had a lot of turmoil and it at least looked like Kelly stabilized the situation.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^
August 15th, 2014 at 4:44 PM ^
I'd say that's a pretty boilerplate response for recruits when bad news drops on their school like that. Wouldn't surprise me to see him (and other ND recruits) go elsewhere as the implications really start rolling out (i.e. bowl bans)
August 15th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^
that he was leaving Michigan, I would agree. I was posting his comment for what it was worth. I don't see Michigan taking him back given the other issues that have been mentioned. I think Michigan has moved on. It may be interesting though to see if Lewis moves faster to make sure he doesn't lose his spot.
August 15th, 2014 at 5:47 PM ^
for early playing time?
August 15th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
We barely have any spots left and there are only two or three recruits that I can think of (Crawford and the that LB from Indiana) that this might affect.
Losing a lot would hurt them more than if this just ends up being 4 dudes getting cut and nothing further from the school or NCAA.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:50 PM ^
Don't even know what the scandal even entails at this point. I doubt it will have much effect at all though on recruiting.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:50 PM ^
I think its difficult to say who might or might not be moved by this. Crawford is alreay on record saying no impact. Bilal is the likeliest since the margins between UM and ND were already slim. Maybe this is enough to push him towards UM.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:50 PM ^
Are there any other positions of need where we could swoop in? I mean if the coaches wanted Crawford back, cool, but CB, followed closely by RB and WR, are the least of my worries right now based on the current roster and commits. Now if there was a talented DL, LB or OL that we could poach, yes please...
August 15th, 2014 at 4:06 PM ^
This assumes UM is a close 2nd or even on the radar of these kids. There are a lot of kids who go to ND where UM was not a real contender for his services and vice versa. Like it or not, we are not Bama right now where we can just show up out of the blue late in the process and kids fall all over for us. Not to say we are not recruiting well - we are. But there are maybe 2-3 schools right now which can just show up and "swoop in" on someone like that.
Like someone else said, this might help with Bilal and that's about it.
I will say ND's schedule is quite tough for 2014 so if these players lead to an extra 2 losses for example and instead of 8-4 its 6-6, that could have some effect down the road but in any given year for a Midwest prospect OSU, UM and ND are going to be somewhere involved. We've been crapping the bed for half a decade and are still involved in many top level recruits and ND has been crapping the bed for most of 10+ years and still get a lot of top level recruits. The PSU situation is unique but this type of thing and the OSU situation a few years back are generally tiny speedbumps.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:23 PM ^
Oh I understand, totally. My point is only that unless the coaches would want Crawford back (and he seems, at least atm, to be firmly committed), or there's some blue chip DL/LB/OL to move on, I'm not sure if there's really much overlap between us and them.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:51 PM ^
it might affect it. It's bad press, and that's the sort of thing that turns off recruits or parents who were otherwise on the fence. If you're a kid who is borderline in terms of grades, you might be more inclined to go somewhere that turns a blind eye to this sort of behavior. Also, if losing those players causes ND to have poor season, that stuff always affects recuiting.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:51 PM ^
Seriously, I'm sure that immediately after the Tressel SI "bomb," PSU "death penalty," etc. bold proclamations were made about their immediate future recruiting. I bet they were mostly wrong.
And here, all we have is some confirmed "sources" about the investigation. Just wait and see.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^
I remember during tatgate people were talking about recruits having sex with paid escorts, drug money, etc. and nothing came of it. I think people get carried away in these immediate aftermath times and a lot of stuff sticks.
Hell, someone could probably tweet out right now "BREAKING: Brian Kelly paid for sex with own players as part of scandal" and it'd be on ESPN within the hour
August 15th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^
You should. Oh, and I agree. The internet piggy backing is really bad currently.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:57 PM ^
Homer sleeps nude in an oxygen tent, which he believes gives him sexual powers.
August 15th, 2014 at 5:05 PM ^
That is the babysitter candy episode, right?
Edit: believe so after google. The interview is possibly the best five minutes of the Simpsons ever.
/derail over.
August 15th, 2014 at 10:15 PM ^
Kyle Kalis
Ross Douglas
August 15th, 2014 at 3:52 PM ^
But at the moment? Not at all.
August 15th, 2014 at 3:56 PM ^
It probably won't as long as BK survives.
Edit: /sorry
August 15th, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^
Not sure about recruiting HS players, but Cardale Jones will not be transferring to ND.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^
Kinda doubt it will matter. If anything, it may show that Notre Dame cares about academics and is dealing with the issue, which will matter to some parents.
And let's not act like these types of cheating issues don't exist at most schools, even though with minimal athletic endeavors. I have spoken to a number of Ivy League graduates who say this stuff goes on there as well, and it is across the board. Yet people still attend.
I suspect we'll see a couple of stories saying this was a "factor" in a kid's decision, but more of it will probably be how ND does on the field.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^
August 15th, 2014 at 10:33 PM ^
August 15th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^
Wanted to come back to u of m and it meant missing out on marcus lewis id likely look at crawford and toss him the deuces. I really would like to see lewis in the maize and blue and I think he fits more with what we are trying to accomplish in the back field than crawford does.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:19 PM ^
I agree. I think Crawford is a heck of a player, but I feel like Marcus Lewis is just as good if not better. Lewis has more size, which is what the coaching staff is looking for. I'd take either of them, but if it was up to me, I'd go with Lewis.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:06 PM ^
Probably about as much as it affected Ohio State.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:07 PM ^
I really don't even know if Michigan would consider any of their commits. Crawford's ship has sailed, Boykin (maybe if York is kicked off the team), Barajas if we miss out on our other targets. I would think this would help us with Asmar Bilal more than anything.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:57 PM ^
I forgot about Boykin. I was pretty high on him when he showed interest, and I recall that we were #2 for him (although not sure how close this was) so if this ends up changing his mind, that would be pretty cool.
August 15th, 2014 at 5:08 PM ^
To google I go.
Edit: There's no way that's accurate.
and i don't want to pass it on if it isn't. Is [campus insiders] sports a reliable source?
edit2: switched source.
edit3: presser at 6.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:13 PM ^
Just took a peek at ND's schedule this year and I think they are an 8-4 team. Their record could vary by 1 win either way but still I don't see them having a terrific year. A medicore record in addition to the violation stuff could slow their recruiting. If they they win 10-11 games, the violations will have 0 effect.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:26 PM ^
8-4 would be good for ND. They play 5 teams currently ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll, 3 of them are on the road. That doesn't count games against us, Louisville, Syracuse and Northwestern, none of which are gimmes. If they come out of that 8-4, they should be happy about that.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^
Yeah, they have a pretty stout schedule and they lost some pretty key players on defense. I wonder if they come out of the season with a 7-5 or 6-6 record, plus all the academic stuff, if we'll start seeing calls for Kelly's firing? Kelly had the incident involving the videographper a little while ago as well. If the wins start going down these things could start burying him.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:16 PM ^
August 15th, 2014 at 4:29 PM ^
It will have as much of a recrootin' deterrence as a macaroni noodle in front of Michigan Stadium. If I'm a recruit, I just saw myself getting playing time on national TV a year or two earlier than expected. If they buy in to what ND is selling (a place like no other, academics first, touchdown Jeebus, etc.), then I thnk they are saying to themselves that you will represent ND far better than those who got caught. Nope, what a few players did over the past few years has no impact on an individual who wants to play for Notre Dame.
August 15th, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^
All this means is that Urban Meyer will be trying to pick Notre Dame's bones clean instead of some other school this year.
August 15th, 2014 at 6:26 PM ^
This was pretty much my thinking, too. Didn't OSU's D-line benefit from the PSU debacle and other defections?
August 15th, 2014 at 7:01 PM ^
August 15th, 2014 at 7:05 PM ^
Urb poached Tommy Schutt and Noah Spence.
August 15th, 2014 at 8:28 PM ^
August 15th, 2014 at 4:54 PM ^
August 15th, 2014 at 6:33 PM ^
August 15th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^
I don't think it will at all. I see this blowing over rather quickly and they aren't going to get any harsh sanctions. They suspended the players before the story broke. If nothing happened to UNC, I don't see anything happening to ND here.
August 15th, 2014 at 5:29 PM ^
Is Butch Davis still coaching UNC?