Linebacker was not a position of great need for Notre Dame in the Class of 2012 and the Irish never tried to hide it.
From the beginning – with Missouri’s Mike Scherer – to the end – with Florida’s Schyler Miles – the Irish were telling several linebacker prospects that they saw them as offensive players. Notre Dame was brutally honest with high school coaches with multiple BCS prospects that it wasn’t searching hard for linebackers in the 2012 cycle.
So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Notre Dame ended up inking just one linebacker prospect, Romeo Okwara of Charlotte, N.C.
To be fair, the Irish did recruit some of the nation’s top prospects and they would have welcomed them had they wanted to come, they were just going to be very picking and focus their attention in areas with greater needs.
Florida linebacker Noor Davis was a top prospect for Notre Dame from the start and the Irish had identified him long before he earned All-American status and much earlier than most programs. Davis journeyed to South Bend for a visit early in the process and spent close to eight hours meeting with coaches, players and touring the facilities. The tradition and Christian side of Notre Dame left a deep impression on the Florida standout and catapulted Notre Dame to the top of his list with the likes of Stanford, USC, Alabama and Florida.
But Davis shocked many people by choosing Stanford over what were assumed to be his favorites; Notre Dame and Florida.Davis chose Stanford because of his relationship with the coaches, high academics and the fact that he had a lot of family living in California, which helped with his comfort level. Another factor that was a well-known was that Stanford was also recruiting him to play baseball as well as football.
Notre Dame made a strong impression on Maryland linebacker Mike Moore at the Irish’s Junior Day, but it was going to be hard to beat Virginia, where Moore’s father coaches and he eventually signed.
Notre Dame earned a commitment from South Bend native David Perkins during the summer, but it didn’t stick. Perkins, who initially talked about getting farther away from home, was struck by the attention Brian Kelly showed him at Notre Dame’s Junior Day and returned for several unofficial visits in the spring months. Once Perkins got his test scores back, the Irish came through with the offer they had promised and he committed in short order.
But there were questions about Perkins’ potential fit at Notre Dame from the start. Perkins talked about taking other official visits, an idea his high school coach and former Notre Dame player Antwon Jones initially shot down. But Perkins continued to talk about taking visits and, according to Perkins, Kelly told him he didn’t like the idea, leading to Perkins’ decommitment and eventual commitment to Ohio State. It’s worth noting the stance the Irish took with Perkins’ visits was in contrast to other prospects.
The Irish also recruited other to prospects like Michigan’s James Ross, Ohio’s Sevon Pittman, and Jamal Marcus and Alex McCalister, both of North Carolina. All showed varying levels of interest, but Notre Dame was never considered near the top of any of their leaderboards. Ross signed with Michigan, McCalister signed with Florida while Pittman and Marcus each signed with Ohio State.
Notre Dame also heavily recruited hybrid linebacker-defensive end types Ifeadi Odenigbo and Noah Spence. Odenigbo had Notre Dame in his final three before picking Northwestern while the Irish made Spence’s final seven, but were never able to secure a visit before he signed with Ohio State.
Landing Okwara came as a bit of a surprise, if only because the young prospect was never enamored with the media portion of the recruiting process. The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder from Ardrey Kell High School slipped in to South Bend for an unofficial visit during the summer and departed quietly. His reaction came through his actions – not words – as he committed to the Irish shortly after.
Okwara may not get the fanfare of other prospects - perhaps because of his quiet nature – but he garnered plenty of attention from colleges, landing offers from Michigan, Miami, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Louisville, North Carolina State, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech among others.
The youngster won’t turn 17 until just days before arriving at Notre Dame and his coach believes his ceiling is extremely high.
Notre Dame will look to capitalize on the fact it only signed one linebacker in the 2012 class in 2013. The Irish already have offers out to junior studs like Jaylon Smith, Alex Anzalone, Michael Hutchings and E.J. Levenberry.
