Notre Dame Football: 3 Best recruiting classes under Brian Kelly

The second and less important signing day has come and gone. It was a bit strange for Notre Dame football, as signing day came and went with only one signing, a three-star running back from Louisiana, Logan Diggs. That made this class massive, and at twenty seven prospects, the biggest that Kelly ever will land.

All of this strangeness goes back to the pandemic, however, which has adjusted the way that coaches approach building their rosters.

That’s incredibly important, because recruiting is the heart of a college football program’s growth, even if it feels strange to follow the careers of teenagers. Teams build bigger and better facilities for recruits, they improve their social media footprint for recruits.

In some cases, maniacs who coach Michigan climb trees to impress recruits.  They do these things because of simple reality, and that is the best programs hoard talent, which creates an incredibly top-heavy system. To compete with those top teams, you have to offer something special to recruits.

Over the past couple of years, this is a point that Brian Kelly has been emphasizing. After all, it’s the next step to go from a great college football team to an elite one. The Irish are getting closer, but they’re still a step away.

New defensive coordinator, Marcus Freeman is a big hit in terms of recruitment, but things still don’t take that final leap to the next level overnight. Of course, over the Brian Kelly era, recruiting has clearly improved for Notre Dame.

This is about looking back at Kelly’s past, and the three best classes he ever put together. These are after-the-fact rankings, so something like a 24/7 sports average ranking isn’t relevant to where they ended up on this list.

It’s also worth noting that while recent classes have been good, it’s difficult to judge the Class of 2019 or 2020 until they’ve had more time to prove themselves, so they weren’t even considered. The same goes for the Class of 2021, who hasn’t even his the practice field yet.

So, who are the three best classes in Brian Kelly’s time at Notre Dame?