Towing the Line - Recruiting an Offensive Line

With commitments from 6’5” 260 lb. Mark Harrell and 6’8” 290 lb. Taylor Decker, the Irish are getting a second look from Michael Flint.  Flint, who originally had verbally committed to Auburn, has decided to re-open his recruitment.  Notre Dame does have an offer out to Flint along with several other big name programs including LSU, USC, Florida, Florida State and Stanford.  Flint says he will wait until the Under Armor game to make his announcement, but where ever he goes he plans on being an early enrollee.  Even though he looks like from “Cam” from Modern Family, at 6’4” benching 435lbs. and squatting 585lbs, and with a nice combination of size and strength along with a 3.7 GPA, I like the fit.  Check him out at http://recruiting.scout.com/2/953098.html

The Irish are also on the radar of 6’5” 275lb Paul Thurston from Colorado.  Thurston has offers from a ton of big name schools including Michigan, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA just to name a few.  I am not sure how much Notre Dame is really in the hunt, however, the Irish are relevant in the national recruiting landscape. 

Back to Mark Harrell - the Irish won out over a dozen programs including Auburn, Clemson, Michigan and his home state schools, North Carolina and NC State.  I think it sends a strong message when Notre Dame can lure recruits away form their home state programs. 

With a 3.7 GPA and a 25 ACT score, Taylor Decker is another recruit that gravitates to Notre Dames academics not just athletics.  Decker has good size and will continue to add bulk, however he does seem to need to improve his strength (Yahoo Sports has his max bench at 225 lbs.)

With three of the top five offensive tackles and four of the top six offensive guards still up for grabs, I’m sure Kelly has his coaches pounding the pavement.