News of Notre Dame’s impending partial move to the ACC broke Wednesday morning. And with it, many Irish fans are wondering how it will impact recruiting.
Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Impact Of Partial Move To ACC
How will Notre Dame’s move to the ACC impact football recruiting?
That’s a complicated question.
Notre Dame already heavily recruits the conference footprint of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York.
In fact, according to CBS Sports' Bryan Fischer, more than 50 percent of Notre Dame's recruits under Brian Kelley have come from the ACC's footprint.
Starting quarterback Everett Golson is from South Carolina, star defensive end Stephon Tuitt is from Georgia and starting nose guard Louis Nix is from Florida. Last year, the Irish pulled elite lineman Jarron Jones out of New York.
In the current recruiting cycle, star linebacker Alex Anzalone is from Pennsylvania, as is receiver Will Fuller. Defensive end Isaac Rochell is out of Georgia.
Notre Dame has already consistently played series against North Carolina, Boston College, Maryland and Wake Forest in recent years. And it’s hard to imagine games against Florida State, Clemson and Virginia Tech in the coming years would hurt the Irish.
Notre Dame is already exposed in the households of those markets on a weekly basis via its network TV deal with NBC. However, it could help Notre Dame to tell potential recruits that more games will be played in their region.
What the move won’t change, however, is the difficulty Notre Dame has in convincing top recruits to leave the South and endure the harsh winters of South Bend.
The bottom line: this deal won’t hurt Notre Dame’s recruiting, and it could help it some.
For more on Irish football, visit Notre Dame blog One Foot Down.
