Jonas Gray Commits

One program's loss is another's gain.

Notre Dame picked up its 21st oral commitment for the Class of 2008 on Tuesday when running back Jonas Gray from Detroit Country Day selected the Irish, according to IrishIllustrated.com.

Gray initially committed to Nebraska, but reopened his recruiting process after the Cornhuskers fired their athletic director and head coach Bill Callahan's status is tenuous, at best. Gray visited Notre Dame this weekend for the USC-Notre Dame game.

"Me and coach (Corwin) Brown have always had a good relationship and have always been friends," Gray told IrishIllustrated.com. "Throughout the recruiting process we talked and when this all happened with Nebraska he talked about me coming up for a game and taking an official visit.

"It's funny because (Notre Dame) is always a place I wanted to be at in the beginning."

Gray is the second high-profile commitment for Notre Dame since its 38-0 loss to USC on Saturday. Wide receiver Michael Floyd chose the Irish on Sunday.

What this means for Notre Dame is that despite the record, recruits see potential in the growth of the program. It also shows how good of a recruiter Corwin Brown is, as the Irish have cobbled together the No. 1 recruiting class in the country according to Rivals.com.

And despite the start, Weis is confident the players who have committed -- including Bishop Dwenger wide receiver John Goodman and Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist -- won't back out.

"I can't tell you how many of these (committed recruits) have said 'Don't worry about me, coach, I'm all in.' That's a repeated comment," Weis said. "Do I feel bad for them? Sure. But I feel worse for the guys that are here right now. Especially the guys that are going out the door.

"But I think almost to a man, these guys are saying don't worry about me, coach, I'm all Notre Dame. Go worry about the next guy. Don't worry about me."

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Comments

[Kyle]

Man Weis and Co. sure can recruit

[john]

Now let's get some blockers. Robinson is an odd story--he has always given a lean to ND--how do you reel this guy in. I'd also offer LB Compton with Sabino out.
Current players--give the ball to Schmidt--big, fast--you want a pounder--he's already there.john

[Mike Q.]

See this is the difference between Charlie and Tyrone... everyone is saying that Tyrone and Charlie are being treated differently because they both had great first two years and horrible third. Well Tyrone did not recruit worth a damn and has left Notre Dame in trouble, where Charlie is having a bad year... but he is still recruiting top class individuals... all those people who are calling for Charlie's head now because he isn't being treated the same as Tyrone... they better shut it, when ND wins the National Championship in two years.

[john]

Now let's get some blockers. Robinson is an odd story--he has always given a lean to ND--how do you reel this guy in. I'd also offer LB Compton with Sabino out.
Current players--give the ball to Schmidt--big, fast--you want a pounder--he's already there.john

[Kyle]

I have to disagree with you about Compton. I think with the lawst spots you get either Page or Robinson, and Walker, Baldwin or gerrell robinson. I think the class wont get any bigger than 24

[john]

Kyle--outside the name (Poz) recruit seems small in 3-4.Is he even 6ft tall?

If they have 25 with 4 left--I'm with you insofar as getting OL--which i think is most important. 4 left I'd go all OL except one wr.
john

[john]

Kyle--outside the name (Poz) recruit seems small in 3-4.Is he even 6ft tall?

If they have 25 with 4 left--I'm with you insofar as getting OL--which i think is most important. 4 left I'd go all OL except one wr.
john

[john]

Kyle--outside the name (Poz) recruit seems small in 3-4.Is he even 6ft tall?

If they have 25 with 4 left--I'm with you insofar as getting OL--which i think is most important. 4 left I'd go all OL except one wr.
john

[john]

Kyle--outside the name (Poz) recruit seems small in 3-4.Is he even 6ft tall?

If they have 25 with 4 left--I'm with you insofar as getting OL--which i think is most important. 4 left I'd go all OL except one wr.
john

[john]

Kyle--outside the name (Poz) recruit seems small in 3-4.Is he even 6ft tall?

If they have 25 with 4 left--I'm with you insofar as getting OL--which i think is most important. 4 left I'd go all OL except one wr.
john

[Jason]

Pretty much down to a few targets barring anything crazy happening..,

RB Cyrus Gray: I have to imagine he will no longer be recruited with Jonas Gray in the fold.

WR: John Baldwin: Between ND and Pitt. Seems Pitt has the lean with the family history.

WR: Gerrell Robinson: Between ND and USC unless a surprise entrant gets in there. No idea on this one.

WR Deion Walker: He is visiting which is good but I think he is FSU's to lose at this point.

OL: Kenny Page: Almost committed this weekend. Sounds like its either ND, So. Carolina, or Clemson. I like ND's chances A LOT. However, he doesn't seem like he would be able to step in and play for a couple of years.

OL: Trevor Robinson : who knows whats going on with him. He probably waits to see who Wild Bill's replacement will be before deciding.

LB: Will Compton: I don't think they pull him, nor do they need him.

If I was a betting man, and I am, I would say ND gets Page Gerrell Robinson and misses on the rest. I wouldn't be surprised if another name popped up to fill a 24th spot.

[E]

I think ND could have Will Compton if they offer him a scholarship, which I don't believe they have. Look at his recruiting pictures on rivals.com and he is proudly wearing his ND sweatshirt, but not sure if ND needs another LB.

[robert t. gilleran]

1. with respect to the oline, if you check with rivals.com, you will find that massive te joseph fauria has grown into a fine and fast 6'8" ot and we understand that the position change was made with his blessing since charlie and corwin are up front with all recruits and with their families.

2. teams that contend for national championships require talent and depth of talent and experience at every position.

3. in the face of vicious attacks from the enemy camp and some from within the notre dame community, charlie and corwin and their staffs have brought all of those elements to notre dame, something that notre dame has not had in decades since lazy bob davie allowed the notre dame recruiting network to die on the vine.

4. with that depth of talent comes the option of bringing back those hard hitting joe moore type of preseason and game preparation, something which was not possible in 2005, 2006, or 2007.

5. notre dame has room for a few more in the class of 2008, even after the commitments of wr michael floyd and rb jonas gray.

6. in the meantime, charlie and corwin and their staff hit the recruiting trail all over the us, to pay personal visits to nd's 21 solid vebals and their families, to pick up a few more high quality commits for 2008 and to continue the 2009 recruiting which they had already begun.

7. that is the type of dedication and hard work that no amout of money could but from any group of coaches, who receive an awful lot of help from the nd players already at notre dame.

8. in addition, they have done all of this with integrity and without compromising notre dame's rigorous academic standards.

9. since no other notre dame coaching staff ever faced problems of the magnitude faced and solved by this coaching staff and the 2007 team, we will never know if any other coaching staff at notre dame could have done what charlie weis and corwin brown and their staffs have done.

10. however, those of us who took the time to gather the facts, to understand what problems this nd coaching staff was facing and solving have been eternally grateful all along, as every real notre dame fan should also have been.

11. no, michael, lazy bob davie is not a positive. he is the person who nearly killed the notre dame football program and he continues to engage in nd bashing both directly and through fronts at the espn and other media outlets.

12. good reporters are supposed to do quality research before they write. hopefully, you will catch on in the future.

13. apologies in writing from you to charlie and corwin and their staffs and to the members of this 2007 notre dame team would be in order.

have a great day,

bob gilleran

[The Genuis]

well said, bob. and all of it true. mr. rothstein would be wise to consider all the facts next time...

[Terry]

Question - 3 scholarship players have left the program. Doesn't that mean that we have three extra scholarships to offer, IOW we can go after 7 more players to add to the present 21, for a total of 28 players?

Or am I missing something?

[Kyle]

Each class can only have a total of 25 signed to it. Now if a player enrolls early then they are actually counted towards last years class. Weiss has said that he wants to even out the classes so that one class does not outweigh the other. When you get large classes you tend to have people transfer because of a lack of playing time. Most people predict a class of around 24 this year.

[Irish T]

Coach Weis is still getting the top talent to come in spite of the record of the 2007 Irish. I agree some smash mouth O Line kids are really needed at Notre Dame as they are at most College's.
Another W/O would be great too and perhaps anthoer RB.

Keep it up Coach Weis and Coach Brown. Keep them coming.

GO IRISH