Top QB Recruit Gunner Kiel Enrolls At Notre Dame After Leaving LSU

LSU Tigers coach Les Miles understands everything. Whether you understand him or not is beside the question, even though no question has yet been asked. Les Miles? Yes. When asked about the surprise decommitment of top quarterback recruit Gunner Kiel, who's already enrolled to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Miles responded in understanding fashion:

"Young people make a variety of decisions for a variety of reasons. A guy in the Midwest wanting to stay close to home was his right decision. I can understand that," Miles said. "We need people who would be happy in Louisiana."

Family was indeed frequently cited by LSU outlets as Kiel's primary reason for staying close to home. While Kiel's switch to the Irish could mean a new home for fellow star Indiana quarterback recruit Devin Fuller, it sounds like this case has wrapped with smiling faces all around.

(Except for idiots who are constantly seeking reasons to be idiots anyway, of course.)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Hardly a shocker: Indiana Hoosiers commit Gunner Kiel, the nation's top-ranked quarterback according to Rivals, has decided to open his recruitment back up, according to Chris Lowry, the sports director at WIOU in Indiana. At the same time, Notre Dame's 247 site reported Kiel will take a visit to another school on Saturday.

Kiel's commitment to the historically weak Hoosiers was quite a shocker to begin with, and cued almost immediate we'll-see-how-long-that-lasts jokes.

It's not unfathomable that he could end up sticking with IU, but with offers on the table at the time of his original commitment from the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan Wolverines, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oklahoma Sooners and a host of others, it's game back on for the slinger from Columbus, Indiana.

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