I wrote: "Right now Hiestand, Sanford, the ND alum and perhaps a couple of others are the only coaches worth a rip on this staff."
The ND alum are Denson and Lyght. Both are terrific. Denbrock and Gilmore would fall under "and perhaps a couple of others." I think Gilmore has the right stuff and I am anxious to see how he does this year. Personally, I believe the whole defensive side of the ball is hamstrung by bvg.
The top 5 players you listed were can't miss NFL players out of HS as long as they stayed healthy.
Ok, so let me get this straight... There are a total of 11 coaches on this staff and you think Kelly, Hiestand, Denbrock, Denson, Sanford, Lyght and Gilmore are all good coaches, leaving 4 coaches that you feel are inadequate (but specifically BVG).. So like 70% of ND's coaches are good coaches (in your mind)? If that's the case where did the "only coaches worth a rip on this staff" part come from? I don't think that I'm only person that would read that as you saying that you don't think the majority of ND's coaching staff is very good. Re-read that yourself, with what I just presented in mind... How does it sound to you?
As for ND's "many extraordinary recruiting advantages", can you please them? I'm actually very curious to hear what they are. And I'm not talking about advantages over Purdue, or Pitt, I'm talking about what recruiting advantages ND has over Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, etc, etc (the teams that out recruit ND these days).
I'll list you the disadvantages and I'd like you to counter with the "many advantages"...
Disadvantages to ND in recruiting in 2015...
1. The shift away from Catholicism in America and most of the key talent going to Catholic (or at least Christian) based schools that produced kids more predisposed to Notre Dame's faith based, private, education.
2. The geographical population shift towards the southern United States which means the majority of the best football players in America are now located a long way from Notre Dame, which would mean (for many recruits) moving a long way away from your family to play.
3. More rigorous academic standards than the vast majority of their competitors, including the need for multiple foreign language classes. There is a significant percentage of the top kids in America each year that Notre Dame can't recruit even if they want to because they don't get through admissions.
4. South Bend is nowhere near a destination place for kids. Sure Chicago isn't too far away, but South Bend, like a lot of Midwestern Americans towns is closer to a hole in the ground than it is a destination. Location is a big factor to a lot of kids in 2015.
5. Social life. Gone are the days of kids that eat-sleep-breathe football. They want the best University experience they can and for a lot of kids that means going to a place with a great social scene, lots to do and where there doesn't exist a strict honour code that will promptly get you tossed if you're in violation.
6. Academic rigours. We live in a time where many of the top players could care less about the degree they're getting if they're focused on the NFL as their future career choice. Many kids see academics as "in the way" of time they could spend working towards their future. Opposing coaches often bring up the difficulty of Notre Dame's academic load for student-athletes as a way to steer recruits away from South Bend. It works more than you think. A lot of kids want easy classes, with lots of help, where playing football basically makes you immune to academic punishment unless you literally never show up to class.
7. Notre Dame treats it's student-athletes like any other students relative to staying dorms. They assign each freshman a standard dorm, with a non-athlete roommate, in order to integrate them into the school's population better. Some kids love this, but sadly, they seem to be the minority. Most kids love the swank apartments they get put up in with other football players (often off, but near campus). They don't care to be a heavily involved in the school, they chose a school for football purposes.
8. Girls... Flat out. Have you ever been on the Florida State campus or the USC campus, or any Southern campus for that matter? Something about tank tops, sundresses and girls who weren't smart enough to get into Notre Dame, but had enough time to spend 2 hours getting ready to go to class each morning is appealing to 18 year olds... Gee I wonder why?
9. Weather. Like it, or not, the best players in America tend to live (in large part) in warm climates where they can play year round. A lot of kids don't want to head North and freeze their ass off all winter in South Bend all winter so they can get an elite degree and gain countless regional and national connections to jobs... Maybe a kid who is making the decision based on education would think about that, but a lot of kids that have dreams about going to NFL don't.
Those are just some of the key recruiting disadvantages ND has versus other top schools. Again I'd love to hear all about ND's advantages in recruiting... Regardless, however, you are correct that both Weis and Kelly proved that you can still recruit top 5 classes at Notre Dame. I don't think anyone could disagree with that based on proven results... What I will argue is this. While it's possible at ND, because of recruiting restrictions and disadvantages, it's highly unlikely to happen year-in-and-year-out. ND can do that once maybe every 5 years, but the right things need to be in place for that to happen. ND needs to be coming off of or in the midst of a highly successful year on the field (like in 2012), they have to have immediate playing time available at positions (like last year at DB when ND took 7) and most of all, it has to be a strong year in the Mid West (which is happening less-and-less) so ND can draw from its natural recruiting base. Even that's become much tougher with Harbaugh now at Michigan, Meyer cleaning up at Ohio State and Michigan State recruiting better than it ever ha under Dantonio.
