When I first got this job I was pretty hard on defensive line coach Mike Elston, but over the last couple of seasons he has really made me eat my words and eat a lot of crow. But landing Osafo-Mensah was without question the best recruiting job Elston has done.
Some backstory on how Notre Dame, led by Elston, made this one happen.
Notre Dame has been recruiting Osafo-Mensah for about a year and a half. He got offered May 10th of last year, and he's been a priority ever since. Elston getting on Osafo-Mensah so early was huge for Notre Dame, because it allowed the Irish to get out to an early lead for him, but they didn't remain his leader the entire time.
Texas A&M was the first school to really make Osafo-Mensah think hard about staying in-state. The Aggies actually offered Osafo-Mensah before Notre Dame did, and when Mike Elko left the Irish to head to College Station he made NaNa an early target. NaNa visited Texas A&M the week after he visited Notre Dame for the first time, but how Elston handled that was brilliant. Elston made sure NaNa knew the differences between Notre Dame and Texas A&M, so when NaNa and his family visited TAMU they knew the questions to ask, and it wasn't long afterwards that the Aggies were no longer a serious player.
Texas offered in January and quickly made Osafo-Mensah a priority. He was quickly enamored with the program, and the Longhorns quickly closed the gap with Notre Dame. By the time he made an unofficial there in March the Longhorns had taken the lead. The good thing for Notre Dame is that Elston was all over it and knew the Longhorns were making a push, and he knew the angles they were using on NaNa to get his interest. Texas did a really good job using the academic data that was positive for their school, since Texas is in fact considered a very good academic institution in some circles. The Texas coaches also heavily played up the difference in social life in Austin compared to South Bend. I was told by once source that he almost made a commitment to Texas, another told me he did in fact silent to Texas, but I am skeptical that he went that far. What I do know is that Texas was on the verge of landing him.
Elston was connected with a lot of different people regarding NaNa, including his parents and other recruits he had bonded with. That had a big impact on this recruitment in a number of ways. Not only did it mean Notre Dame had people in their corner, but it also meant he was always on top of the moves being made by other programs, especially Texas. When NaNa was close to picking Texas, Elston was able to work hard to keep that from happening and ensure that he made his official to Notre Dame. Their relationship made that happen.
When NaNa returned to Notre Dame in April for his official visit, Elston knew exactly what buttons to push, and the staff pushed all the right buttons. By the end of his visit NaNa had actually silently committed to Notre Dame. That is why I remained steadfast in my opinion that Notre Dame was in very good position with him regardless of what others were saying about him and Texas. Silents aren't usually overly reassuring, but knowing NaNa and his family I felt this one would stick. He had made a promise to Texas and his relationship with Texas was such that he was definitely going to make that visit, and obviously Texas was going to make a heavy final push.
This is when Notre Dame executed some really savvy moves to make sure his commitment stayed firm.
After his visit to Notre Dame and before his visit to Texas, Elston and defensive coordinator Clark Lea and Elston made a trip down to Texas to see NaNa and reiterated the things that made him commit in the first place. By the time he made the visit to NaNa the reasons he loved Notre Dame were emblazoned in his mind. They had NaNa prepared for everything that Texas was going to throw at him.
To follow that up, Elston went back to Texas after the Longhorn visit to quickly get what Notre Dame was about back in his mind. There was no time for NaNa to soak in the Texas visit, and Elston was able to keep his focus on the Irish program.
Elston also did a great job winning over the parents, who strongly desired for NaNa to pick an institution for academics first and football second. Winning them over played a big role in keeping Texas from making the kind of push it needed to get him back in the fold.
A lot of programs tried to get in the mix with NaNa, but this was going to be a Notre Dame/Texas battle, and in the end Notre Dame and Mike Elston pulled off the upset and made this one happen.
Some backstory on how Notre Dame, led by Elston, made this one happen.
Notre Dame has been recruiting Osafo-Mensah for about a year and a half. He got offered May 10th of last year, and he's been a priority ever since. Elston getting on Osafo-Mensah so early was huge for Notre Dame, because it allowed the Irish to get out to an early lead for him, but they didn't remain his leader the entire time.
Texas A&M was the first school to really make Osafo-Mensah think hard about staying in-state. The Aggies actually offered Osafo-Mensah before Notre Dame did, and when Mike Elko left the Irish to head to College Station he made NaNa an early target. NaNa visited Texas A&M the week after he visited Notre Dame for the first time, but how Elston handled that was brilliant. Elston made sure NaNa knew the differences between Notre Dame and Texas A&M, so when NaNa and his family visited TAMU they knew the questions to ask, and it wasn't long afterwards that the Aggies were no longer a serious player.
Texas offered in January and quickly made Osafo-Mensah a priority. He was quickly enamored with the program, and the Longhorns quickly closed the gap with Notre Dame. By the time he made an unofficial there in March the Longhorns had taken the lead. The good thing for Notre Dame is that Elston was all over it and knew the Longhorns were making a push, and he knew the angles they were using on NaNa to get his interest. Texas did a really good job using the academic data that was positive for their school, since Texas is in fact considered a very good academic institution in some circles. The Texas coaches also heavily played up the difference in social life in Austin compared to South Bend. I was told by once source that he almost made a commitment to Texas, another told me he did in fact silent to Texas, but I am skeptical that he went that far. What I do know is that Texas was on the verge of landing him.
Elston was connected with a lot of different people regarding NaNa, including his parents and other recruits he had bonded with. That had a big impact on this recruitment in a number of ways. Not only did it mean Notre Dame had people in their corner, but it also meant he was always on top of the moves being made by other programs, especially Texas. When NaNa was close to picking Texas, Elston was able to work hard to keep that from happening and ensure that he made his official to Notre Dame. Their relationship made that happen.
When NaNa returned to Notre Dame in April for his official visit, Elston knew exactly what buttons to push, and the staff pushed all the right buttons. By the end of his visit NaNa had actually silently committed to Notre Dame. That is why I remained steadfast in my opinion that Notre Dame was in very good position with him regardless of what others were saying about him and Texas. Silents aren't usually overly reassuring, but knowing NaNa and his family I felt this one would stick. He had made a promise to Texas and his relationship with Texas was such that he was definitely going to make that visit, and obviously Texas was going to make a heavy final push.
This is when Notre Dame executed some really savvy moves to make sure his commitment stayed firm.
After his visit to Notre Dame and before his visit to Texas, Elston and defensive coordinator Clark Lea and Elston made a trip down to Texas to see NaNa and reiterated the things that made him commit in the first place. By the time he made the visit to NaNa the reasons he loved Notre Dame were emblazoned in his mind. They had NaNa prepared for everything that Texas was going to throw at him.
To follow that up, Elston went back to Texas after the Longhorn visit to quickly get what Notre Dame was about back in his mind. There was no time for NaNa to soak in the Texas visit, and Elston was able to keep his focus on the Irish program.
Elston also did a great job winning over the parents, who strongly desired for NaNa to pick an institution for academics first and football second. Winning them over played a big role in keeping Texas from making the kind of push it needed to get him back in the fold.
A lot of programs tried to get in the mix with NaNa, but this was going to be a Notre Dame/Texas battle, and in the end Notre Dame and Mike Elston pulled off the upset and made this one happen.
