Notre Dame Fighting Irish Sign 23 Players
By Evan Reller
Nov 9, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly (center) waits to lead the Fighting Irish onto the field to play the Pittsburgh Panthers during the first quarter at Heinz Field. PITT won 28-21. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish pulled in an impressive collection of athletes on National Signing Day. The 2014 recruiting class is one of the best in the country.
Notre Dame’s class is ranked 6th by Scouts.com, 11th by ESPN, and 10th by 247sports.com. Rivals.com had the Irish with the 11th best class in the country.
The class is littered with talent. There was just one five-star recruit, but it also included 10 four-star caliber players. 13 of the players are currently on the defensive side of the ball, which will help to reinforce what will be a depleted defense next season.
Coach Brian Kelly was excited about the class and what it means to the future of the program.
“I really like the fact that this has come together and the fact that it really represents for us going into our fifth year the one thing that I believe that you’re looking for, and that is depth across the board,” Kelly said. “And I think some of the things that stand out, 18 of these recruits that are in this class were in the top 15 in their position group, and so that’s what we were trying to achieve in this class.”
Here is the list of players, courtesy of Notre Dame’s athletic office:
| Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown (High School) |
| Bars, Alex | OL | 6-6 | 290 | Nashville, Tenn. (Montgomery Bell Academy) |
| Blankenship, Grant | DL | 6-6 | 264 | The Colony, Texas (The Colony) |
| Bonner, Jonathan | LB | 6-3 | 245 | Chesterfield, Mo. (Parkway Central) |
| Brent, Justin* | WR | 6-1 | 204 | Speedway, Ind. (Speedway) |
| Byrne, Jimmy | OL | 6-4 | 285 | Cleveland, Ohio (St. Ignatius) |
| Cage, Daniel | DL | 6-2 | 305 | Cincinnati, Ohio (Winton Woods) |
| Hayes, Jay | DL | 6-4 | 275 | Brooklyn, N.Y. (Poly Prep Country Day) |
| Hill, Kolin | LB | 6-2 | 220 | Schertz, Texas (Samuel Clemens) |
| Holmes, Corey | WR | 6-2 | 176 | Pembroke Pines, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas) |
| Kizer, DeShone | QB | 6-5 | 212 | Toledo, Ohio (Central Catholic) |
| Luatua, Tyler | TE | 6-3 | 241 | Paramount, Calif. (La Mirada) |
| Martini, Greer | LB | 6-3 | 225 | Cary, N.C. (Woodberry Forest) |
| Mokwuah, Peter | DL | 6-4 | 315 | Staten Island, N.Y. (St. Joseph by-the-Sea) |
| Morgan, Nyles | LB | 6-2 | 223 | Crete, Ill. (Crete-Monee) |
| Mustipher, Sam | OL | 6-3 | 294 | Olney, Md. (Good Counsel) |
| Nelson, Quenton | OL | 6-5 | 302 | Holmdel, N.J. (Red Bank Catholic) |
| Newsome, Tyler | P/K | 6-3 | 190 | Carrollton, Ga. (Carrollton) |
| Sykes, Nile | LB | 6-2 | 220 | Lombard, Ill. (Montini Catholic) |
| Tranquill, Drue | DB | 6-2 | 210 | Fort Wayne, Ind. (Carroll) |
| Trumbetti, Andrew* | DL | 6-3 | 260 | Demarest, N.J. (North Valley Region) |
| Watkins, Nick | DB | 6-1 | 190 | DeSoto, Texas (Bishop Dunne) |
| Weishar, Nic | TE | 6-4 | 215 | Midlothian, Ill. (Marist) |
| Williams, Jhonny | DL | 6-5 | 230 | Benton Harbor, Mich. (Berrien Springs) |
Click here to view the full bio’s for each player.
We’ll take a more in-depth look at this class in the coming weeks.
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