Apr 20, 2013; Notre Dame, IN, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting Irish line up in the first quarter of the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

One significant shift between the previous staff and the current staff is how quickly they offer prospects. Recruiting is moving faster and faster. For example, Dylan Moses, an 8th grader from Baton Rogue, Louisiana, already has offers from Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Nebraska and Texas. Obviously, Moses is an outlier. But, he is indicative of a boarder picture of recruiting.

Notre Dame offered Junior Defensive Tackle Shy Tuttle on Wednesday. The Junior from Lexington, North Carolina has several big time offers already including Clemson and North Carolina.

Tuttle checks in at 6’2″ 285lbs. In 2012, he filled the stat sheet with 83 tackles, 16 sacks and 3 forced fumbles. These statistics demonstrate that he is relentless and aggressive  when taking on the ball carrier.

In 2014, the Irish will only have 7 Defensive Linemen after Nix and Tuitt leave for the NFL (again, Tuitt still has eligibility but it is likely that he will declare). The Fighting Irish have commitments from Jay Hayes and Andrew Trumbetti for 2014. This puts the Irish at 9 players. In 2015, Tuttles’ freshman year, the number of players could dip down to 6 players along the front. Notre Dame obviously needs to land big time players in the 2014 class and the 2015 class to have solid depth in the Defensive Line.

Jan 7, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Theo Riddick (6) warms up prior to the 2013 BCS Championship against the Alabama Crimson Tide game at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame already has a Running Back for the 2014 class. Why would the Fighting Irish Coaching Staff offer another Running Back?

One thing is clear right off the battle. Vickers must be an elite player because he has elite offers. Rankings are in consistent but when a player has offers from Alabama, Clemson, Mississippi, Notre Dame and Mississippi it is usually a good sign that he is a solid player.

Vickers told both Scout.com and 247Sports.com that he was interested in the Irish. Presumably, he would play at the Running Back position. This signals that Notre Dame will be recruiting another Running Back

He rushed 1076 yards on 144 attempts and 11 touchdowns in Class 2A Football in Florida. His high school team, North Florida Christian, won the State Championship in 2012. In that game, Vickers ran for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Vickers is extremely elusive. He also has great hands. He would be more of slasher like Theo Riddick. Vickers checks in at 6’0″ 205lbs.

Is Notre Dame still after Nathan Starks and others at Running Back as well? Or are they pursuing a different type of Running Back?

Jan 3, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Tommy Rees (11) during practice for the 2013 BCS National Championship game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Nova Southeastern University. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame extended another offer to another Quarterback yesterday. This offer was to Jacob Park, a 6’3″ 202 Junior Quarterback from Goose Park, South Carolina. Park is a three year Quarterback for his high school, Stratford.

In his three years, he has passed for 1404, 1276, 2239 yards respectively. He also has 43 career touchdown passes as well.

Park is a Pro-Style Quarterback. He is the 9th best according to 247Sports. Overall, he is the 138th best player in the nation.

To back up these rankings, Park has offers from some of the best programs in the country: Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and Virginia Tech. Currently, Virginia Tech standouts out from the Goose Park product. This is his likely destination but heavy hitters Alabama and Notre Dame have come to the plate with offers since he named them his leader.

The Fighting Irish are coming to the party late because of the transfer of Gunner Kiel. The Irish intended to take a Quarterback in the 2014 class but had only offered one when Kiel announced he would be transferring. His transfer puts Notre Dame behind the “8 Ball”. Brian Kelly and his staff will need to make up ground with these players to land a commitment. But, the Irish are going after the top Quarterbacks. They have only offered 4-star and 5-star prospects.

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