Does Notre Dame's Schedule Help?

Last season Notre Dame took on lowly Washington State in San Antonio Texas. This upcoming season, the Irish are slated to play Navy in East Rutherford, New Jersey and Army in the Bronx, New York.

Along with these neutral site games, the Irish frequently travel across the nation to play games along the east and west coasts.

Many cite that these games are for recruiting purposes, but are they really?

For Notre Dame, the program exposure surprisingly has worked recruiting wise.

With games over the past three seasons at Southern California, UCLA, North Carolina, Washington, Boston College and Pittsburgh, Notre Dame has instantly gained interest from prospects in these areas.

For Example, the game 2008 at North Carolina arguably brought in two linebackers in the 2010 recruiting class.

Raleigh, NC linebacker Kendall Moore and Charlotte, NC linebacker Andrey Kelley both had the opportunity to see the Irish play within an hour drive of their homes.

2011 athlete Matthis Farley out of Charlotte, NC has already given a verbal commitment to the Irish keeping the North Carolina connection going.

Notre Dame had only signed one player out of the North Carolina area the six years prior to the game at North Carolina.

Notre Dame hopes that playing these road games and neutral site contests will keep helping there recruiting efforts as talks of a potential home-home series with the University of Miami is in the works.

A game in the talent rich area of Miami could have a big impact for Notre Dame, as many prospects would have the chance to see the storied program locally.

Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelley has expressed that there is no reason that Notre Dame shouldn’t be an independent; and you can’t blame him.

Notre Dame should keep finding recruiting hot beds, as long as they keep scheduling opponents like they have in the past.

Listed below is Notre Dame’s past two seasons and recruiting classes:

@ North Carolina (2008)

-Kendall Moore LB Raleigh, NC 4-Star-2010

-Andrey Kelly LB Charlotte, NC 4-Star-2010

-Matthias Farley Ath Charlotte, NC -2011

@ Boston College (2008)

-Jake Golic TE Avon, CT- 2010

@ Southern California (2008), @ UCLA (2007)

-Shaquille Evans WR Inglewood, CA 4-Star- 2009

-Cierre Wood RB Oxnard, CA 4-Star- 2009

-Cameron Robinson RB Newberry Park, CA 4-Star-2010

- Justin Utupo DT Lakewood, CA 3-Star-2010

@ Pittsburgh (2009)

-Ben Koyack TE Oil City, PA-2011

- Andrew Ivins
 
Andrew Ivins can be reached at AndrewRIvins@gmail.com