“YOU KNOW I DON’T SPEAK SPANISH!”

Notre Dame not accepting an online Spanish course is the reason the Irish won’t be getting solid 3* prospect, and former Michigan commit Anthony Standifer.

Oh well. He would have been nice for depth, but doesn’t make or break this class. Case closed–as far as he goes.

Academic dustups with football players are a bigger deal when it comes to Notre Dame football than other schools because no other school with the exception of Stanford takes pride in holding their football players to at least close to the same standards as the regular student body (in Standifer’s case, all students require “2 units of a foreign language”–he had none apparently).

Notre Dame alums love that the academic part sets them apart from the “disgusting football factories” (think “SEC”). They look at it as ‘doing it the right way”. After all, Notre Dame is a “university first”, and graduating is the priority.

This is true–Notre Dame’s job is to put out highly qualified graduates ready to succeed in the world. But, throughout its history, Notre Dame has used its football program as an instrument to grow its academic reputation. The balance has shifted to where the success in the classroom far outweighs the success on the field. Perhaps that is a satisfactory outcome.

However, ND is also a football school. No university puts more pride into their program–and wants it to succeed more than ND (maybe equal, but not more). Then, as the school continues the longest drought it has ever known between championships, the question becomes what is the University willing to do to succeed on the football field? When the football team flourishes, Notre Dame does as well (remember, Notre Dame is a brand, success increases value).

As of now, Standifer is not a big enough name to seriously spark this debate of academics versus football success. Also, I’ve read that ND as it stands can recruit usually 70-80 of the top 100 players in the nation, which is way more than I would have guessed. Finally, Notre Dame’s recent failures in recruiting have way more to do with performance on the field than academic restraints. The thing is, what if ND keeps losing? If the team clearly does not field the talent of a team like Alabama–or even Oregon? The brand continues to diminish–and the coaching carousel continues? Hell, what if Standifer had been Darby?

Notre Dame continues to fight the good fight. But, academics do get in the way of football success (look at any school graduating 90% of their players–they ain’t winning). I’m not here to say what Notre Dame should do, but at least that admission requirements of football players should be on the radar. There might be a day when that barrier needs to be addressed, and the powers that be decide how important football really is.

The gist of the craziness that is Notre Dame recruiting was covered in Part I. Part II is strictly thoughts on whether the biggest targets left this year will sign with the Irish on Feb. 1st. Here they are–and here’s what they will do:

Nelson Agholor. No shot at perhaps the biggest playmaking receiver in the country outside of Dorial Green-Beckham. I thought he would stay in state for a good part of this recruiting season, but most pundits really feel USC (in fact, most think he has been a silent commit for a while). In the end, you can’t blame him. He is a receiver, USC always has great quarterback play, and Kiffin had proven his coaching chops as far as offense is concerned.

Ronald Darby. Curses! Darby may be the fastest player in the nation, and this would have been the first time the Irish could have laid claim to having a player with that title since the days of Rocket. It will not be however, as this kid takes track serious, and there are some schools down south that have Olympic-level track programs. FSU will be the winner here.

Brian Poole. Advanced beyond his years in technique, and a top 5 cornerback in the country. His dad prefers ND, so many feel that Brian Kelly has had a good shot with this current Florida commit. My guess is that the thought of going to ND causes Poole a few sleepless nights, but he stays with the Gators in the end. Hard to get Florida kids out of Florida.

Arik Armstead. This 5* defensive end has been the object of many a ND fan’s recruiting obsession. Another elite front 7 player. A California kid hard to pry from the West Coast. Another statement made by ND that they are playing with recruiting firepower not seen in South Bend since the very early 90’s. However, I have always felt that he truly wanted to stay in the West, and today it came out that he is considering Cal, Washington, Oregon and… Auburn? Which is west of Florida, I think. He would be at Cal if super recruiter Tosh Lupoi hadn’t left to Washington for sure. In the end, I think it still comes down to Cal and Lupoi’s new school (seriously, that guy is the Egg McMuffin of recruiters, I have never heard of an assistant having this type of impact). In the end, Lupoi’s whisperings of sweet nothings into Arik’s ear won’t be enough to take him away from the school he’s been most comfortable at all along, and he goes to Cal. No dice for the Irish.

Davonte Neal. Urban Meyer really wants him. ‘Nuff said, he’s going to OSU. Brian Kelly will have to win more on the field to win wars against coaches like Meyer when they really go after the same player. It’s too bad, ND could have used his explosiveness in the slot.

Anthony Standifer. Signed, sealed, and delivered for ND. He’s even willing to take Spanish to get to South Bend. A physical, solid corner, and good pickup, but still a condolence commit. Unfortunately, the Irish struck out on their top targets.

Ken Ekenam. A good linebacker, but not a position of great need, and at this point, Brian Kelly is just going to save a scholarship for next year–to go chase some more elites as scholarships will be limited next year (gotta stay under 85, and the last few classes have been large).

In the end, Irish recruiting ends with a whimper. Standifer helps with depth and “solid” talent, but BK couldn’t close the deal with the true playmakers to make this class great. Some think Poole is more than likely to flip, but I feel Kelly used up his magic last year. Still, two very good classes in a row, adding 5*-type studs in Shepard, Greenberry Kiel, and Jarron Jones this year. Kelly is upgrading talent significantly, but Notre Dame has been down so long, he will likely need to make/win a BCS game to show ND is back, and be able to reel in those “top 5″ recruiting classes.

No Notre Dame recruiting cycles have been as crazy as Brian Kelly’s–Period. No Notre Dame coach has worked harder to build a team in a fashion that will lead to success in today’s college football–Period. Kelly lives true to his Irish heritage, puts his dukes up, and battles for the type of difference-making recruits not seen since the Holtz era. Recruits that the “so called” experts have said Notre Dame can no longer get. Explosive and powerful kids on the defensive side of the ball that chew up ground (no, not like The Mad Hatter) quickly and get to the ball to make plays.

Last year, Kelly pulled out all of the stops in getting the signatures of 5-star defensive studs Aaron Lynch (who committed, de-committed, and re-committed), and Stephon Tuitt (who did the same–Kelly changed his mind in one day). Defensive Coordinator and Kelly protege Bob Diaco waited outside of 5-star Ishaq William’s Brooklyn home at 5 a.m. (sans even a Starbucks coffee–and I mean coal-black coffee–nothing wussy for Diaco I would assume), and got him to commit on the spot before he headed over to Penn State. California stud linebacker Troy Niklas was a surprise commitment on signing day (over USC) thanks to the staff’s hard work.

No Irish staff in recent memory could have pulled those coups. Not Weis. He could get skill offensive talent, but lost out on stud defensive players, and lost many players to the poaching of other coaches. As Kelly showed with Lynch and Tuitt, he would sooner lose his ability to spontaneously combust on any sideline than give away a recruit without a fight. Not Willingham. His only successful class (Brady Quinn’s class) was based of a surprising 10-win first year. Not Davie. His only difference-maker in FIVE YEARS was running back Julius Jones. Holtz got it done, but the recruiting competition isn’t what it is now.

Kelly is fighting the recruiting battle, and Notre Dame’s recruiting world is wackier than ever, as illustrated above. This year is no different (perhaps even more of a roller coaster), and with a week to go until National Signing Day, here are some of the happenings is a second straight year of “What The?” moments:

-Notre Dame got hot, with a commitment form stud safety Elijah Shumate at the U.S. Army Bowl. 4-star athlete Kei’vare Russell surprised many and left Washington to attend ND. Then, even more shocking, Parade All-American and 2010 recruit Amir Carlisle decided to transfer from the hated Trojans to South Bend. Tee Shepard, perhaps the best cornerback in the land, got over a hot and heavy affair with home state USC, and kept his promise to enroll early at Notre Dame (thereby guaranteeing his cousin and elite receiver Deontay Greenberry, will also call ND home on NSD).

-Then, Notre Dame got cold. The other stud cornerback (and perhaps the fastest player in the country), Ronald Darby, said goodbye. Urban Meyer scoffed at the fact that another school took an elite Ohio offensive lineman, and reeled back Taylor Decker to his home state. Would there be more attrition?

-In the third act, #1 quarterback Gunner Kiel sent shockwaves when he never went to LSU as planned, and instead enrolled at Notre Dame Jan. 17th. Rumors were that the Irish also had a shot at California stud defensive end Arik Armstead (and his brother, USC transfer Armond). Stud corner Yuri Wright seemed like a heavy Irish lean as well.

-Then, things slowed yet again, with the Armsteads putting a halt to their recruitment (choosing a future is slightly more difficult than picking soup or salad) until Arik picks a school on NSD (oh, even schools like Alabama and USC are trying to get involved now), and Yuri Wright basically made himself radioactive with Twitter comments about weed, and his favorite part of the female anatomy–dooming himself to play football at Colorado today. Nice skiing to be sure. Football? Not so much.

So, how will recruiting end this year? One week left, with the Irish trying to gain just a few more good men. The targets are:

-Nelson Agholor (3rd-best receiver in the country?)
-Ronald Darby (trying to sway him back)
-Brian Poole (current UF commit and stud corner)
-Arik Armstead (probably with Armond)
-Davonte Neal (aaathlete)
-Anthony Standifer (former Michigan commit)
-Ken Ekenam (good linebacker and backup plan)

Bring on the wacky come Feb. 1st. Let’s see how this plays out. Willy Wonka would like this kind of shit.

(Part II comes tomorrow with guesses on how this will play out.)