Notre Dame picked up another huge commitment with 4 star outside linebacker Ishaq Williams dad confirming to IrishIllustrated.com's Pete Sampson that his son would be attending Notre Dame starting next week. This is another huge get for the Notre Dame football program in that Ishaq would join potential 5 star players in defensive ends Stephon Tuitt and Aaron Lynch in what would be the best defensive haul in Notre Dame recruiting history. Notre Dame now has 22 commitments for their 2011 signing class and are still awaiting word from running backs Amir Carlisle and Savon Huggins who both have ND as a finalist in their college decision.
If you are curious to know how good of a recruiters head coach Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco are you should read this story told to Pete Sampson.
OK, here's the backstory. The dad told me that Ishaq was ready to announce his commitment last weekend at the Army Bowl, or at least was very close to it, but the commitment was going to be to Penn State. During the week Ishaq prayed about the decision, coming to terms with two big points, that Notre Dame was the best fit for him off the field and that the Penn State coaching situation wasn't going to be stable enough for him to trust that the staff would be there intact during his college career.
Fast forward to this morning, with Bob Diaco making a 4:30 a.m. in-home visit with the family, which is what ended up getting Notre Dame over the top.
“The whole notion of going to a school because of a position coach, that’s not a good look,” Shaun Williams said. “Everything else at Notre Dame just added up. It’s really just what he was looking for. He really admires coach Diaco and really admires coach (Brian) Kelly. Coach Kelly is a proven winner and might just prove to be the next Joe Paterno, if he wants to coach that long.
“The whole idea of how confidently coach Diaco talks about Notre Dame winning a national championship in the next few years, he just felt he had to buy in.”
I've already bought in to Coach Kelly and Diaco after seeing Notre Dame run off a 4 game winning streak at the end of the season with a true freshman quarterback starting and injuries to 5 key starters who were missing. It's great to hear recruits are taking notice and that Notre Dame is on the right track. The thought of Ishaq, Lynch, and Tuitt all in the same class is sickening. Notre Dame is usually lucky to land one of these defensive recruits of their caliber every 5-10 years. Three in one class? Mind blowing.
Here are some highlights of Ishaq...
