Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Another Top Class For The Irish

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Ronald Darby will announce live on ESPN on National Signing Day. He will decide between Florida State, Clemson, Auburn and Notre Dame.

Gunner Kiel's Dad On Notre Dame Switch: 'The Burden Is Off His Shoulders'

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Notre Dame Football Recruiting: What Will Gunner Kiel Bring To The Irish?

Notre Dame fans are justifiably excited with the commitment of Gunner Kiel. He's one of the top pro-style quarterbacks in the country. But just what does Kiel's commitment mean for the Irish? For that answer, let's turn to the excellent Notre Dame site, One Foot Down:

Immediate Future: Kiel will enter a crowded depth chart at QB, presumably behind 2011 starter Tommy Rees and the Goldrix chimera generated in the laboratory during the offseason.

As an early enrollee, he has the benefit of spring practice to become immersed in the offense and learn the playbook. He has an outside chance of competing for the job as a freshman, but not likely to win the starting job for the season opener vs. Navy in Dublin.

Kiel likely sits a year and retains the eligibility unless he is just too impressive in camp to keep on the sidelines.

Long Term/Career: I think Kiel is about as good a fit for Brian Kelly's offense as anyone out there. While not necessarily a dual-threat QB, he has the arm strength to stretch the field vertically as well as horizontally and is athletic enough to keep a defense honest as a running threat.

Don't expect him to run a lot of zone-read option plays, but the threat is there and will have to be accounted for. When comparisons come to mind, I think he reminds me a bit of Brady Quinn (but with better touch/accuracy) and should end up being a two or three year starter in South Bend.

I do wonder if Notre Dame will ever be able to have a top run game with a pro-style quarterback operating entirely from the shotgun. I suspect they will not. Still, the Irish can have an excellent offense with Kiel at the helm.

Kiel is the jewel of an excellent Notre Dame recruiting class. But how many scholarships do the Irish have left?

According to our friends at One Foot Down (click for excellent statistical breakdown), despite currently having 17 commitments, Notre Dame actually has room for six more recruits! That's certainly setting up the Irish for a strong finish.

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Gunner Kiel Officially Announced As Notre Dame Enrollee

It's now official: star Indiana quarterback prospect Gunner Kiel has enrolled early at Notre Dame, the school announced, where he'll play football for the Fighting Irish next year. Up until Monday evening, Kiel was thought to be a solid LSU Tigers commitment, and was expected to enroll early in Baton Rouge.

Commenting on the move, here's Kiel:

"This recruitment process was a roller-coaster ride at times, but I know I have made the right decision for my family and me," Kiel said. "There were three critical elements I was looking for in my future school: the quality of education I would receive, the distance from home and the comfort level I would have with the players and coaches in the football program. Notre Dame was the perfect fit for me because it hit all three areas.

"Coach Kelly was great throughout my recruitment, as many times our conversations had nothing do with football. That really showed me he had my best intentions in mind. He was persistent yet also patient while recruiting me and I look forward to playing for him the next four years. I couldn't be happier to be a member of the Fighting Irish football team. I'm excited about the future of the program."

The Irish also announced early enrollees DL Sheldon Day and DB Tee Shepard, along with USC Trojans transfer RB Amir Carlisle.

Thus, hopefully, concludes for now the Kiel saga, which began when he committed very early in the year for a five-star quarterback to the lowly Indiana Hoosiers.

For more on LSU football, head to And The Valley Shook. For more on Notre Dame football, head to One Foot Down.

Gunner Kiel To Notre Dame After Leaving LSU, According To Report

You may have heard the Monday night news that famous recruit Gunner Kiel has chosen to leave the LSU Tigers (after leaving the Indiana Hoosiers), according to Louisiana media and national recruiting media. Now we have a report from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish side that he's indeed headed to South Bend, from the Observer's Douglas Farmer.

The report has him enrolling early, just as he'd planned to do at LSU, and installing himself at the campus' O'Neill Hall.

Kiel has become perhaps the 2012 recruiting crop's biggest name, thanks in part to his talent (he's rated a five-star quarterback and considered by most to be the nation's top dropback passer), but thanks also to his quest to find the right school. His very early commitment to IU came as a surprise; his October decommitment did not.

As he hails from the state of Indiana, you sort of can't fight the feeling that he was going to wind up at Notre Dame all along, no matter where he stopped along the way. According to TigerBait.com, it all came down to a family thing. Still, nothing is official yet, and we've yet to hear from Kiel himself.

For more on LSU football, head to And The Valley Shook. For more on Notre Dame football, head to One Foot Down.

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LSU Recruiting Scouting Report: How Good Is Gunner Kiel?

LSU finally has its blue-chip quarterback recruit in Gunner Kiel, who committed to the Tigers on Tuesday. Paul Crewe of the excellent SB Nation LSU site, And The Valley Shook, has a breakdown of Kiel.

This is certainly worth a read, as Crewe breaks down Kiel's mechanics, size, arm, athleticism, mental game and upside. Here's an excerpt:

... A lot of people compare him to Andy Dalton, which I think is pretty decent. His arm is plenty good enough, but nothing anyone is going to go crazy about. What is most impressive about his throws though, is that, even at this young age, he understands touch. Kiel knows that a 5-yard screen doesn't need to be rifled, nor should a deep out be lofted. He shows a lot of ability to adjust the velocity of his throws based on not just the type of throw, but the type of defense he sees. This is a very good sign.

I'm on board with this. Crewe does state that Kiel's arm is close to being "great." I don't agree with that, but once a quarterback has the requisite arm strength to throw most of the routes, accuracy becomes much more important. And Kiel certainly has enough arm strength.

Crewe also notes the mental side of Kiel's game, which I touched on here. This is a quality evaluation and one LSU fans need to read.

For more on LSU recruiting, visit And The Valley Shook.

Follow @SBNRecruiting on Twitter.

Gunner Kiel Commits To LSU Tigers Over Notre Dame, Vanderbilt

A banner day for the LSU Tigers as they land one of the top quarterbacks in the country.

Gunner Kiel Decision Dragging Out, Could Come Soon

Driven by tweets and stories from various Louisiana media, the college football recruiting world was in a fervor Monday, as the top pro-style quarterback, Gunner Kiel, was expected to commit to LSU, Vanderbilt or Notre Dame. Only that didn't happen.

The Kiel camp was silent, and presumably went about enjoying the day after Christmas while contemplating the decision. Still, just about everyone expects Kiel to make a decision fairly soon, because Kiel is going to enroll early at his school of choice, and the paperwork for that sort of thing needs to be submitted fairly shortly. Jamie Newberg is the most prominent national recruiting media member to predict a commitment this week:

Recruitniks will remember that Kiel committed to Indiana over the summer, only to back out of that commitment during the season.

Kiel has taken official visits to all three schools, and all of them obviously have a lot to offer a quarterback.

Vanderbilt is the most interesting choice, as the Commodores had a surprising season and seem to be headed in the right direction under James Franklin. And Vanderbilt did have success with another quarterback from Indiana in Jay Cutler.

So While Kiel seems to be leaning to LSU, don't count out the other two contenders.

Follow @SBNRecruiting on Twitter.

VIDEO: 2011 Gunner Kiel Highlights Show What Notre Dame, LSU, Vanderbilt Are After

Gunner Kiel slings it in his senior highlights. Watch one of the nation's top quarterback recruits in new tape.

Gunner Kiel Will Take Official Visit To Notre Dame This Weekend

Gunner Kiel has scheduled an official visit to Notre Dame this weekend, the South Bend Tribune reports. The 6'4", 216-pound quarterback out of Columbus (Ind.) East High School is considered the top quarterback prospect in the country.

Kiel, whose commitment to the hometown Indiana Hoosiers lasted only three months into the season, doesn't have a rocket for an arm, but he is capable of making all the throws and his understanding off the game is excellent.

Kiel is now considering Notre Dame, LSU and Vanderbilt. Notre Dame is thought to be his leader. Kiel is an early-enrollee, so his decision will be made before signing day, but there is still time. He does plan to play in the U.S. Army All-American Game in early January, and SB Nation will be on hand to cover him there. Kiel has scheduled visits to all three schools.

Notre Dame currently has 15 commitments.

For more on Notre Dame recruiting, visit One Foot Down

Gunner Kiel Official Visits: Notre Dame, LSU and Vanderbilt

Fans of the LSU Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and yes, the Vanderbilt Commodores received good news today when it was revealed that five-star gunslinger Gunner Kiel will take official visits to those three institutions.

Keil, whose commitment to the hometown Indiana Hoosiers lasted only three months into the season, is considered the top quarterback prospect in the country. While he doesn't have a rocket for an arm, he is capable of making all the throws and his understanding off the game is excellent.

The Tigers, Irish and Commodores have certainly had some quarterback issues over the last few seasons, and Keil would have a legitimate shot to compete for playing time as a freshman at any of the three. Kiel has unofficially visited each of the three in the last month, so these visits aren't surprising.

Keil is an early-enrollee, so his decision will be made before signing day. The 6'4" 215 pound quarterback does plan to play in the U.S. Army All-American Game in early January.

Notre Dame Recruiting: Gunner Kiel, Like Entire Class Visiting For USC Game

Gunner Kiel Confirms Indiana De-Commitment And Renewed Recruitment

After a rush of reports that Gunner Kiel, the nation's top-rated quarterback recruit and a longtime Indiana Hoosiers commit, has re-opened his recruitment, the man himself confirmed the story to 247 Sports. Kiel notified coach Kevin Wilson Thursday night, then made the whole thing public Friday morning.

"I'm just reevaluating my decision and plan on taking some future visits to other colleges," Kiel told 247Sports on Friday morning.

He added that he plans to take all five official visits. The first will be Notre Dame on Saturday for their game against the USC Trojans, according to reports.

Here's Indiana blog Crimson Quarry with some instant (and sober!) reaction:

I hope, of course, that when the process is complete Gunner decides to enroll at IU in January 2012. On the other hand, if you are looking for a bunch of moralizing about broken promises, then you're in the wrong place. For all of his football talents, Gunner Kiel is a high school senior deciding where to spend the next few years of his life. That is an intensely personal decision and one that should not be made lightly.

Of course, a verbal commitment should not be extended without careful consideration. It's better when a player is certain when he makes the commitment. On the other hand, I think it's much more important that Gunner or any other player be confident in his college choice. In that sense, it's comparable to breaking an engagement.

For more Kiel and the Hoosiers, visit SB Nation Indiana and The Crimson Quarry.