Gunner Kiel reportedly leaves Notre Dame for Cincinnati

Considered the top pro-style quarterback prospect in the class of 2012, Kiel had been looking at Cincinnati as well as “three SEC teams” - Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Tennessee. He later was rumored to visit Ole Miss, where Hugh Freeze has recruited everything besides a five-star quarterback. Kiel was also linked to Kansas State as well as some MAC teams - not traditional options for an elite quarterback, but possibilities for somebody who has burned a few bridges as he seeks the right destination for his as-of-yet-unseen talents.

• Inside Butch Jones’ Tennessee

Former Notre Dame quarterback Gunner Kiel’s list of transfer options includes three SEC teams, according to a report from ESPN’s Joe Schad. Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Tennessee are among a list of options for Kiel, and both Mississippi schools have already contacted him.

Kiel’s path to college football was already a long and winding one before he signed with Notre Dame. The former five-star prospect committed to Indiana and LSU before settling on the Irish, a move that LSU head coach Les Miles was bent out of shape over for quite some time.

Kiel reportedly attended the Bearcats’ Saturday scrimmage along with approximately 25 prospective 2014 recruits as part of Cincinnati’s Junior Day.

Gunner Kiel was widely considered the top pro-style quarterback prospect in the Class of 2012. His recruitment was chaotic: Kiel initially gave a verbal commitment to Indiana, then rescinded that commitment and promised his signature to LSU. One month before Signing Day, Kiel again changed his mind, decommitting from the Bayou Bengals and eventually signing with Notre Dame.

This news has apparently been in the works for a while:

Official details aren’t yet known as to why Kiel would have decided to change schools. No one on the Notre Dame coaching staff nor athletic department has commented.

The nation’s top-ranked quarterback prospect in 2012 had a whirlwind recruitment in the previous cycle. Kiel committed to Indiana, decommitted and pledged to LSU, then reconsidered and chose Notre Dame days before his early enrollment. Kiel was the team’s scout quarterback during the team’s run toward the 2013 BCS National championship game.

“He did not necessarily have the chest and the ability to lead a program,” Miles said about the “young man from Indiana.”

Kiel, you’ll recall, was once a LSU commit, and also once an Indiana commit. Meaning he spurned a team to come to LSU, which Miles was cool with. Kiel’s sternum is probably just fine either way, but that’s not really what anybody’s talking about. I don’t think. It would be pretty great if all Miles was talking about was really nothing more than actual, physical chest dimensions, though.

Via the man himself:

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Also, in reference to the popular theory from the LSU side of the equation that it all came down to a teary plea from his mother:

As far as burdens go, being shrieked at by Brian Kelly sounds like a whole ‘nother one, but for the time being let’s all emit positive vibes about a young man finding what he believes to be his place.

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.)

Commenting on the move, here’s Kiel:

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

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.

Kiel had originally committed to Indiana over the summer, before decommitting. He then took trips to Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and LSU. Kiel ultimately ended up committing to LSU in December.

Internet rumors began swirling after Kiel failed to show up for a meeting for January-enrollees at LSU.

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:

From LSU blog And The Valley Shook’s excellent scouting report on new quarterback Gunner Kiel, the nation’s top pro-style QB recruit, a list of Kiel’s brethren in five-starred pro-styledness:

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What made schools so eager to offer Kiel? It was more than his excellent name. Kiel has a good (not great) arm capable of making all the throws. His mobility is decent for someone considered a pocket passer. But it’s Kiel’s intelligence that sets him apart. He has an excellent understanding of the passing game. Expect Kiel to compete for immediately playing time in the SEC .

Kiel is rated as the top pro-style quarterback in the country, and is a five-star recruit by most services. He plans to enroll early and take part in Spring practice.

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:

There is a new highlight tape of Gunner Kiel, one of the nation’s top quarterbacks. Kiel has had a busy December and received visits from Notre Dame, LSU and Vanderbilt.

Let’s break down the new Gunner Kiel highlights. I tried to look for Kiel doing things that will translate at the next level, as the competition in Indiana is horrible, and as expected, much of the highlight is Kiel working kids who will never take a college snap.

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.

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.

↵↵Not a whole lot of slouches among that collection, either. The biggest prizes, according to Rivals:

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

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.

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Kevin Wilson has never been a head football coach before, and was just tapped as Bill Lynch’s replacement last December, so while it might be easy to hear he did a radio interview that went very, very badly and scoff that stepping up to the skipper spot in Division I ball means learning to deal with the media ... well, we listened to the interview ourselves, and are firmly in the Team Wilson camp. This is the most interested we have ever been in Indiana football, and for that, we owe Kevin Wilson our allegiance.

Wilson spoke to “Zakk and Jack” of Indiana’s WDNE 1260 AM, and by their bio photo you can tell these are two gentlemen to be treated with the utmost grativas and respect (to say nothing of their rhyming names!). Wilson comes in gruff on the heels of some Hoosier-ribbing with, “Anyway, I got some things to do, what do you guys need?” and it just goes downhill from there. He doesn’t get called a clownfraud, but that may be too many syllables for these bros to process. Listen to the full interview for yourselves, such as it is, right’chere, and pay particular attention to the thinly-veiled threats one indistinguishable lunkhead makes in the general direction of Kevin Wilson’s job and recruiting fortunes (where, for the record, Wilson seems to be doing just fine).

Gunner Kiel is one of the nation’s best quarterbacks in the high school Class of 2012. So it’s a bit of a surprise that he has committed to play his college football at Indiana, not known as a powerhouse in any way, shape, or form.

Kiel is a 6’4”, 220-pound quarterback with a powerful arm, and he’s likely to be a potent signal-caller in Kevin Wilson’s offense. But it’s those skills that made him a logical quarterback of the future for any number of schools — he earned scholarship offers from Alabama, USC, and Michigan, according to Rivals — and Kiel’s talent could dwarf that of most of the players in the Hoosiers’ program as soon as he hits the practice field in Bloomington.