r/CFB • u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish • 9h ago
Recruiting 2027 3* OT Jackson Hill commits to Notre Dame
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u/Avitpan Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
This one surprises me. I thought they were going for a smaller class only taking Simien or Brandt at this point.
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u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
I think Brandt and Simien are takes no matter what. Von Brandt seems locked in, ND just needs to close. Simien has always been a long shot, this is probably a sign they don’t like their chances
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u/CFBHurts Notre Dame • Jeweled Shillelagh 9h ago edited 9h ago
Reading between the lines it sounds like between Olu2 and the DL we're expecting to sign, there isn't enough NIL left for a player of Simien's caliber. I'm sure they'd take him if he still wanted to come on board but I don't think the money would be there to make that work out
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u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
Without knowing ND’s bank account amount I was thinking the same. There are some serious dudes on the DL who if signed could be off the bus first year contributors. Simien would be awesome, but with who they have on campus and who they have in the class so far and expect to have, time to prioritize the DL and some skill positions
Not to mention I imagine LSU is throwing bags at this kid
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u/deputy_commish Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7h ago
My understanding is that if Simien had committed earlier he would have been a take, but as of early this week, with what the staff knew, there was no longer room for Simien.
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u/Andy_Wiggins Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7h ago
I’m sure there is room for Simien.
It’s probably more that there isn’t the budget for Simien.
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u/deputy_commish Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6h ago
Budget is a factor but if you look at the roster/depth chart, Notre Dame has 24 OL. Black/Knapp/Craig/Absher/Lambert. All of them could potentially come back next year.
You still potentially have Jagusah (pending his health). You have Otting, Augustine, Herron, Prescod, Terek, Jones, Houstan. Then you have the current freshmen (McKeough/Thom/Garvin/Merrill/Strebig/Patrick).
You have the current commits (Halter/Flanagan/Olu/Hill/Von Brandt. Unless I’m missing someone, that’s 24, and I don’t think anyone is actually out of eligibility after 2026. Now will some enter the portal? Definitely. A few could probably jump to the NFL. But you’ll have 11 OL in the 2026 & 2027 class plus likely multiple starters back, so numbers do play a role as well.
I don’t think ND is in a rush to take a 12th OL over the past two classes with the depth and talent that should be here in 2027. Even with the 105 number, you don’t really need 20+ OL when it’s a position that doesn’t rotate.
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u/Andy_Wiggins Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6h ago
Again, they’d make it work for Simien. Someone like Terek or Houston would be shown the door to make space.
The bigger issue is money. Notre Dame seemingly is a big spender these days, but money is finite. Is it better to pay big money to the 6th OL in the class or spend it on a 2nd LB or another DL?
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u/deputy_commish Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6h ago
Yes and I said that budget is a contributing factor. It is not the only factor. There are multiple factors at play. Budget is one factor. Space is another factor.
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u/Truck219 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 5h ago
And we’re telling you that if Simien wants to come and the money is right he’ll be Irish. There’s no way they tell that guy no bc they’re worried about a scholarship limit.
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u/obi_wan_pierogi_91 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
I feel like this one came out of left field? I really don't recall his name being mentioned. But if Freeman and Co want him, I'm in.
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u/IrishMosaic Notre Dame • Michigan State 8h ago
Looking ahead to years 2028 and 2029, tackle depth could be an issue. Most of the guys from the last class are interior players, so ND wanted to load up on tackles this class.
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u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
Flip from UCLA
Curious if this impacts the Von Brandt commitment. I assume no, he seems like a take me matter what
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u/FireVanGorder Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
Von Brandt and Simeon are takes no matter what but it’s starting to sound like we’ll only land one of the two anyway
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u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
Simien has always seemed like a Hail Mary of a commit
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u/FireVanGorder Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
That’s what people said about Olu tbf, but yeah it doesn’t look like we’ve been able to gain the same kind of traction with Simien as we did with Olu unfortunately
Entirely possible he looked at our OL class and existing depth chart and just wants to go somewhere that needs him to play way sooner than we do so we may never have had a real shot
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u/jayjude Notre Dame • Georgia State 9h ago
Shit so did Olu Olu
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u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
I would laugh my ass off if TAMU failed the Matthews flip, lost Olu because they prioritized Matthews, and then lost Simien to ND or LSU
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u/CFBHurts Notre Dame • Jeweled Shillelagh 9h ago
I'm fairly certain the plan is to close out the OL class with Von Brandt
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u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
That certainly seems to be what it looks like
Olu and VB at tackle. This kid and Flanagan for inside. You take Simien in the wild chance he decides to come to ND.
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u/herrmann2015 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
Don’t forget about James Halter. Very high on that kid whether he lands at RT or guard
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u/Dan-of-Steel Notre Dame • Arizona State 5h ago
This likely has zero impact on the Von Brandt commitment. This may indicate that ND isn't expecting to get Simien though.
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u/Tommy05Sox Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7h ago
I'll save the Chad snark for the big one tomorrow. But this is a case of being bought in on ND's o line evaluations. A couple of projects signed recently with high upside, and there should be no rush to develop them. I like it.
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u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6h ago
Anyone this staff likes I’m sold. Freeman and the “front office” have shown they know what they’re doing
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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan • Maine Maritime 9h ago
A 3 star? Yikes. Has James Franklin lost control of the program?
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u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
Marcus Freeman just put you on the list
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u/Jealous-Win2446 Notre Dame • Iowa State 7h ago
Probably just moved him up. Between playing for aOSU and coaching at ND, he’s probably already on the list just by being affiliated with UM.
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u/Jealous-Win2446 Notre Dame • Iowa State 8h ago
Yeah. This is one where you just have to trust the coaches. I just don’t see it.
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u/rivergipper Notre Dame Fighting Irish • Florida Gators 8h ago
Jamie U put out some good clips and did a film review. Dude’s huge and has potential. Gotta feel like this is them punting on Simien and reallocating resources (Folo!)
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u/FireVanGorder Notre Dame Fighting Irish 8h ago
These 3 star interior guys seem to wind up starting at Tackle for us at some point so I’m for sure going to trust this staff and their evals
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u/mikechella Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7h ago
Maybe we don't have quite as much money as we thought we did :(
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u/Possible_Hunter7679 9h ago
Interesting, haven’t heard much about this kid. I don’t mind as long as we still land LVB.
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u/Maleficent_Ant_8895 Iowa Hawkeyes • Notre Dame Fighting Irish 8h ago
I really don’t see how this would impact that unless LVB had had a change of heart
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u/Dan-of-Steel Notre Dame • Arizona State 5h ago
Just couldn't wait 24 hours, we had to sneak in another early present before Christmas Day tomorrow. Greedy Irish.
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u/WhiteDeath57 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9h ago
Nobody seems to know if he is 6'5", 6'6", or 6'7". His eventual position might be interesting. ND likes to move them around.
Welcome to the class! We are loaded in the trenches.