The Omar Hunter Saga

Now it is known. Notre Dame defensive line recruit Omar Hunter of Buford, Georgia is going to take a trip to Gainesville. This has come as a big blow and shock to Irish fans. Hunter has expressed almost the entire year on how solid his verbal was to Notre Dame. Now, he may leave to go play under, of all people, Urban Meyer, the former Notre Dame assistant coach who passed up on the Irish in 2005, a big surprise to everyone around the program. Meyer has been the king of negative recruiting. He is a recruit-stealer with poor tactics. Of course, this means war.

Omar Hunter has been one of the most promising recruits in this phenomenal 2012 class. He was recruited to play defensive tackle or nose guard in Notre Dame's 3-4 defense, but now says he wants better weather and to be closer to home. He is considering Florida and Southern Cal now.

Buford High School went undefeated this season and won the Georgia state championship. Southern Cal seems to be unlikely because of his desire to be close to home, so Georgia and Notre Dame are his final 2.

Wherever he goes, he will be a stud. The question is for how long. At Notre Dame, Dwight Stephenson and Trevor Laws, the tackles for the 2007 squad, have both graduated and Justin Brown has one year left. At Florida, there are four freshman defensive tackles and two freshman defensive ends. At Notre Dame, he would possibly be a starter or at least in the rotation from day one. At Florida, he would probably not be a starter until at least his junior year.

There are many bad things to say about Charlie Weis and Notre Dame, but poor recruiting is not one. Weis and Corwin Brown are going to figure out a game plan for Hunter. Weis, Brown, Polian, and Ianello are going to make a visit to Buford, or else Hunter's scholarship will be given to Mike Martin, a Michigan commit who does not want to play under Rodriguez it appears, or Masengo Kabongo (awesome name, I know) of Maryland. Maybe it is a little hypocritical when 2 Notre Dame recruits were committed to Nebraska earlier, and ND looks to be putting a full court press on Michigan recruits, but Meyer and his staff have been known to negative recruit and visit them almost to the point of stalking.

My take on this situation: Notre Dame had a lot of decommits last year. Greg Little and Arrelious Benn come to mind. The Irish can't afford to lose recruits. Hunter, however, will stay Irish. He has been too solid on Notre Dame to suddenly change. Don't worry Irish fans, he's ours. Urbie, go pester other teams and recruits. You are dead to us Notre Dame fans.

Hunter is still going to be part of the Irish recruiting class. Notre Dame fans can worry about Deion Walker now.

Notre Dame Spring Outlook

In about four months, Notre Dame football will start again. This time, Trevor Laws and Tom Zbikowski will be nowhere in sight, but Sean Cwynar will be there. Yes, spring practices will start. Here are some things to look for.

Position Changes

Pat Kuntz from NT to DE: Pat Kuntz is now a nose tackle. He was a very energetic lineman and batted down a lot of passes. He was always having fun. However, all Irish fans and hopefully Corwin Brown knows that Notre Dame has to build this line around Ian Williams, who will be a sophomore. Williams was great in run defense when he started the final three games when Kuntz went down with an injury. Trevor Laws, Dwight Stephenson, and possibly Justin Brown will all be gone. Kuntz will be a started and hopefully can improve in run defense. If not, he may find himself on the bench in favor of Derrell Hand or Paddy Mullen.

Luke Schmidt from FB to ILB: The Irish had success in 2006 with a back moving to linebacker. Luke Schmidt has been behind Asaph Schwabb for the past two years. He is too talented to be playing on special teams. He has the skill to play linebacker. His size is perfect for in inside linebacker. I don't see how this move would be bad. He isn't a starter. There is no risk. Only a reward.

Harrison Smith from S to WR: Notre Dame has a lot of depth at wide receiver, but Smith is very athletic. Notre Dame has two types of receivers. Big, tall posession receivers like Duval Kamara, Robby Parris, and DJ Hord and speedy receivers like David Grimes, George West, and Golden Tate. Smith could play both ways as well. He has the ability to play almost anywhere on the field.

John Ryan from OLB to DE: Ryan was a disaster at OLB. He was being pushed around and couldn't get to the QB in time. Defensive end may be a long transtion, but it would be worth it if he can be effective in the pass game. Brian Smith and Kerry Neal solidified themselves as future stars at outside linebacker. Moving Ryan can't hurt.

Early Enrollments

Right now, Notre Dame has 21 recruits. It appears that not very many of them will come early. Notre Dame used most of its scholarships for the 2007 class. There will be one for sure.

Sean Cwynar: Cwynar appears to be the only player that will be in South Bend for the Blue & Gold Game. Cwynar is a big defensive end for Marian Central Catholic HS in Woodstock, Illinois. He has great size and great power, but his best quality is his intensity. He plays at full throttle every play. He has a great determination, which was missing on 2007's team. He will contend for a starting spot due to the absence of Laws and Stephenson. He should be a quality player for the next four years and a part of the Irish teams of the future.

Captains
Last year, Notre Dame had 5 total captains. The seasons tarted with John Carlson, Travis Thomas, Tom Zbikowski, and Maurice Crum as the captains. However, Travis Thomas had avery dirty play in the Penn State game that resulted in him losing his captain spot. John Sullivan replaced him right afterwards. Maurice Crum will be the only returning player if he is offered the 5th year as is expected. Here are my 3 captains for next year.

Offense-Sam Young: Young has already shown that he cares about this team. He is a great offensive tackle. He was the top recruit on the offensive line for the 2006, and although he underperformed in 2007, he is expected to be the anchor of the offense in 2008.

Defense-Maurice Crum: I can't see how he would lose his position. He didn't do anything stupid like Thomas and he played great for most of the year.

Special Teams-David Bruton: Bruton plays with the most intensity out of any player on Notre Dame. He isn't the most talented, but he is always making plays. He deserves to be a captain.

Beasley Who? Irish Beat Kansas State

Last night, Notre Dame and Kansas State played in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Coming into the game, Michael Beasley was the talk of the town. He is only a freshman, but he is leading the nation in points per game and rebounds per game. Luke Harangody and the Fighting Irish must not have cared. The Irish pulled out the big win 68-59 on a big second half performance from the defense.

Michael Beasley is the real deal. Kevin Durant 2.0, but he was held to only two points in the second half. The Irish were playing a 2-3 defense when they are much better fitted for a man-to-man or a 3-2 defense. The Irish's tallest starter is Rob Kurz at 6-9. Luke Zeller is 6-11 coming off of the bench, but as most Irish fans know, we really don't want to see him play too often. The Irish relied on a great trap defense that forced the Wildcats to shoot threes, their major weakness. Kansas State ended up shooting 3 for 20 beyond the arc, and the Irish defense gave up 59 points to one of the best scoring teams in the nation.

Although Harangody and Beasley both scored 19 points, the story of the game has to be Kyle McAlarney. Last year, McAlarney was suspended for an entire season for being arrested for posession of marajuana. McAlarney is from Staten Island, New York, making this the first time he had come home since his freshman year. McAlarney responded by scoring the Irish's last nine points and leading them to victory when it looked like Kansas State was going to make a comeback. The poise shown by McAlarney had been missing this year. He has had a slow transition back to the college game.

Over the past two years, especially in 2005, the Irish had trouble in close games. Notre Dame lost two games this season on game-winning threes in the last minute. Now, the Irish were on the other side of a late comeback. Notre Dame now has a big win away from home that looks great on an NCAA Tournament resume. The Irish have an easy schedule until the Big East play starts. Barring any crazy upset, they should win out until they face some of the great Big East teams. The Irish have needed a big win in the non-conference. Now, they have one.