Package deals are nothing new in the world of college football recruiting. In fact, they are probably more common than most realize. How? Well, it's the "package deal" that is never formally put out like it is. Translation: schools go after a friend or family member or teammate that they may not need in the class to help push the other target that they covet to commit.
The last really prime example of this for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was in the 2009 recruiting class with Roby Toma and Manti Te'o. Toma and Te'o were never really a formal package, but they had certainly wanted to go to the same school as the other, and with that in mind, Notre Dame took both.