Written by Liam Farrell｜Writer｜Twitter/X: @LiamFarrell_IT
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
The University of Notre Dame is a college football program unlike any other. Athletic and academic excellence is a cornerstone of the Fighting Irish's recruiting pitch. When it comes to five-star wide receiver Derek Meadows, the Irish can roll out a new strategy. This angle can be attributed to the coaches brought into the program, and their success in translating college talents to NFL careers. This concept has been the biggest gap when trying to pry highly touted recruits away from SEC schools. LSU, Alabama, and Georgia all have illustrious track records to attract recruits.
Specifically for Meadows' recruitment, the Irish are competing against two SEC juggernauts: LSU and Alabama. While Meadows enjoyed his time in South Bend during his official visit this past June, two trips to Baton Rouge and Tuscaloosa the following week made his decision a little hazier.
As this recruitment rollercoaster comes down to his July 20 commitment date, Notre Dame is still battling the SEC for Meadows' services.
Now, as an accepted practice in college football recruiting, it's frowned upon to trash another school to elevate your own program. However, from a practical point of view, in comparing the LSU Tigers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, it's unclear what leverage Brian Kelly has in this battle. His offensive coordinator, Mike Denbrock, who captained the No. 1 rated offense in college football last season, left the Bayou Bengals to team up with Kelly's successor in South Bend. In the process, Denbrock developed a Heisman-winning quarterback in Jayden Daniels and two first-round wide receivers, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr.
After leaving South Bend, Brian Kelly was very vocal about the differences in South Bend and Baton Rouge. Kelly told ESPN, "There are priorities at Notre Dame. The architectural building needed to get built first. They ain't building the architectural building here first. We're building the athletic training facility first, [and] we're in the midst of a $22 million addition to our athletic training facility."
While it took some time, the football facilities at Notre Dame will soon be second-to-none. Marcus Freeman announced before the Spring Game the unveiling of a new football facility that will expand the existing Guglielmino Athletics Complex (Gug) by 50%.
Now that Notre Dame has improved their coaching personnel, along with renovating their facilities, there is really nothing holding the Irish back from competing with SEC rivals.
In years past, NIL deals have been an issue, leading big-time recruits to choose SEC programs. The biggest evidence of this was through Keon Keeley's recruiting fiasco. In the end, Keeley decommitted from Freeman and the Fighting Irish to go play for Alabama, and, reportedly a higher NIL deal.
On the other hand, former Notre Dame star Khalid Kareem broke down his decision to decommit from Alabama and pledge his allegiance to the Fighting Irish on the Varsity House podcast.
"Elston said... 'you can come here and make an impact early'" said Kareem.
Proximity to home and the liveliness of Notre Dame Stadium were other factors that led the Irish to secure a premium edge rusher.
Notre Dame has had other wins over SEC competition, like snagging Jeremiyah Love from SEC country, and convincing Jaiden Ausberry to stay loyal to South Bend despite being from Louisiana.
At the end of the day, the recruiting war for Meadows will be ongoing far past his commitment this week. Meadows will get the chance to see how both offenses fare this upcoming season and how he can envision himself within each receiver room. Yet, with Notre Dame offering the best offensive coordinator in college football, the best academics in the country, a position to play early on in your career, as well as making strides in the NIL department, there isn't much holding the Fighting Irish back from beating the beasts of the SEC in the recruiting turf war.
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