The way Notre Dame recruits and the way Notre Dame plays football pretty much go hand in hand. Whether on the trail or the field, there seems to be a barrier that holds the Irish back, and it’s a very common refrain to wonder if the program has “reached its ceiling.”
Based on head coach Brian Kelly’s comments, he knows Notre Dame needs to think bigger on the recruiting trail, putting out a top-five class as a marker the program needs to reach. Even with that in mind, his team finished 9th nationally during the 2021 recruiting cycle, obviously outside of the stated goal.