Notre Dame Football: Final Thoughts on the 2020 Recruiting Class

February 5th was the second of two national signing days, and much like last year, it was not a dramatic ending for Notre Dame football.

The December signing day has changed recruiting for most programs, but it looks like it has really benefited Notre Dame football more than most. Over the past two cycles, the February signing day has been uneventful — but that is just how Head Coach Brian Kelly wants it.

In December, Notre Dame signed 18 high school athletes and 2 grad transfers for a total of 20 new players in the program. Unfortunately, not long after signing day, Notre Dame released cornerback recruit Landen Bartleson of his scholarship due to a legal incident in his hometown, bringing the high school signees to only 17.

If you go on Twitter or read the comment sections of some of the major media outlets, you’ll find some mixed reviews. For those that don’t follow recruiting closely, simply looking at the final class ranking provides a generic opinion of the class — and the final rankings were the worst of the Brian Kelly era (17th on 247 composite and 23rd on Rivals).

However, Notre Dame also boasts the 9th ranked class from an average player rating standpoint on 247sports. For those that don’t know what this means, every player is given a rating on their site ranging essentially from 1.0 (perfect rating) to 0.0 (Not rated). The .9075 rating that 247sports has for the Irish class is the third highest of the Brian Kelly era and the highest since 2013.

While this isn’t meant to change anyone’s opinion on the class, it’s important to bring it all into context. It’s a small class, that is undeniable. Notre Dame under Brian Kelly averages 22 commits per cycle, and the class finished with 17 — with one of those signees a long snapper. Quantity matters, but quality matters probably more so.

When evaluating this class for Notre Dame, it’s hard not to view it from both sides. On one hand, the fans have been clamoring for more top end talent — and this class has 2 five stars in Michael Mayer and Jordan Johnson. On the other hand, the ranking is lower than usual when fans complain about the rankings already being too low — especially on the heels of Brian Kelly mentioning top 5 recruiting classes for Notre Dame.

At the end of the day, every individual has to determine how they want to view it. The casual fan will look at the end of year rankings and likely formulate an opinion based on that. A deeper dive, however, can explain a lot more if someone is willing to do the research. I liken this class to the Clemson classes from just a few years back. Although they have a very SEC vibe to them from an on-field play standpoint, Clemson and Notre Dame recruiting parallels are much more similar than people maybe want to admit. Traditionally, they don’t offer a whole lot of kids, and they certainly don’t offer athletes earlier than most schools. We aren’t far off from the days that 15-20 recruits were common with Clemson, but with multiple five stars and higher end four stars in that mix.

That is essentially what Notre Dame had this year. Clemson turned their recruiting structure around with this formula, and that won them a National Championship with Deshaun Watson. Now they are routinely in the Top 5 in the country in the recruiting rankings.

Will Notre Dame football get to that level here in the next few years? That is tough to say. Three straight seasons of 10+ wins certainly helps, and now 3 five stars in the last two cycles combined is somewhat uncharted territory for Notre Dame as of late. Take a peek at the 2021 class and it is further proof that it could be on that upward climb with an average rating of .9486 early on and ranked 3rd in the country with 8 commits. Five of them are Top 100 recruits in the 247sports composite rankings.

Say what you want about the size of the class, but it’s a talented group of 17 high school kids — and the 85 man scholarship limit has to be taken into account. Add in the fact that the Irish brought in two grad transfers and the 2020 Notre Dame football roster gained a lot of talent.