Whenever Steve Filer's name pops up, someone mentions the notion of a Chicago pipeline.

 

I know what I'm about to say is a bit of a "Debbie Downer" statement, but it does need to be said, before we get completely drunk on the ND Kool-Aid. I hope nobody is dead serious about us forming a pipeline there, 'cause someone is already doing that. His name is Ron Zook.

 

Last year Illinois picked up 3 Chicago kids - including the much desired Martez Wilson - and this year 4 of their 8 commitments are from Chicago, including Filer's teammate, Glenn Foster.

 

None of the 4 Chicago kids were offered by the Irish, so it's not like we lost any battles - can't lose 'em if you never fought 'em. I also don't think we're ever going to see Charlie Weis place the same emphasis on Chicago that we saw during Holtz's era. It seems like we go after the top 1 or 2 prospects from the city, and leave it at that. And we've had a pretty nice conversion rate with those that we have extended offers to.

 

That said, we can forget about a true "pipeline" if you ask me. Zook is setting up shop, so if you're heart is set on a Chicago pipeline made out of Blue and Gold, you'd better hope that he doesn't find a cure for that nasty disease called losing, that U of I football is so used to.

A lot of those guys Zook is getting this year are second tier players whose only offers came from Illinois. Im happy taking the top 1 or 2 players from Chicago every year. Notre Dame can recruit nationally, so a base isnt really that important. We get top talent out of the midwest, the south, Jersey, and California as well as Chicago and its suburbs.

Calves, I don't know what part of Illinois you are from based on your ID, but I'm glad you're here. I enjoy reading your posts.

 

Notre Dame culture, especially football is deeply entrenched in the North and South sides as well as the suburbs. I used to live in Springfield too, so I do have an idea what people South of I-80 think. U of I is a basketball school and when people talk about the school that is what they talk about.

 

For anecdotal evidence, I live in Rockford and I laugh when stores carry only U of I clothing and paraphernalia. The racks sit full. Yet, the stores that carry both U of I and Notre Dame gear...well, lets just say there is a big difference in the what sells. Rockford is closer to Madison, WI than Champaign-Urbana or South Bend and I will hear more people talk about going or seeing to Irish games than Badger games.

 

I don't think Charlie needs to rely heavily on Chicago for top talent. I think irish21 is pretty close to the mark or one or two top recruits. This year with Cwynar and Fleming and last year's Nagel and Hughes is perfect. I don't think we will miss out on the players like Martez Wilson anymore. At least not to Zook.

Calves, I don't know what part of Illinois you are from based on your ID, but I'm glad you're here. I enjoy reading your posts.

 

Notre Dame culture, especially football is deeply entrenched in the North and South sides as well as the suburbs. I used to live in Springfield too, so I do have an idea what people South of I-80 think. U of I is a basketball school and when people talk about the school that is what they talk about.

 

For anecdotal evidence, I live in Rockford and I laugh when stores carry only U of I clothing and paraphernalia. The racks sit full. Yet, the stores that carry both U of I and Notre Dame gear...well, lets just say there is a big difference in the what sells. Rockford is closer to Madison, WI than Champaign-Urbana or South Bend and I will hear more people talk about going or seeing to Irish games than Badger games.

 

I don't think Charlie needs to rely heavily on Chicago for top talent. I think irish21 is pretty close to the mark or one or two top recruits. This year with Cwynar and Fleming and last year's Nagel and Hughes is perfect. I don't think we will miss out on the players like Martez Wilson anymore. At least not to Zook.

 

I know all of what you're talking about. My Grandpa lived on the south side, 76th & St. Louis. He sent all his boys to St. Rita (where Fleming hails from, for modern day relevancy), and his only daughter (my Mom) to Queen of Peace. He was a Chicago cop who had season tickets for 32 years.

 

I do see your point. I guess my post is directed at the notion that we'll bring back the days of Holtz, when we snagged a bunch of kids year in and year out. Maybe its just a definitional term regarding "pipeline" is all.

I crack up everytime I see your avatar, Calves.

 

Being an Alumnus of Cardinal Mooney High School, I should be the one with the McCarthy picture.

I think we are creating a pipeline to chicago and every defensive players neighborhood with the addition of CB and Zook isnt having the impact he had last year

 

maybe the kids figured that the team he wants to get to the next level with wins over 4 or 5 games

I crack up everytime I see your avatar, Calves.

 

Being an Alumnus of Cardinal Mooney High School, I should be the one with the McCarthy picture.

 

 

 

Hopefully it'll change in a week or so, so you can have it then.

Don't think pipeline necessarily means dominating the market in the sense people have been using it - it does mean having connections in a place and using them to an advantage for the kids we want. U of I is the state school, so naturally they are going to have their share of kids from the Chicagoland area, and as Irish21 put it, virtually none of these kids were being pursued by us, so that's okay. If Northwestern weren't so hard to get into, they would probably also draw a lot more from Chicago, but they've had to draw more nationally too to get kids with talent but good enough grades to get in there.

 

Pipeline to me means that for the 1-3 kids each year coming out of the Chicago area each year that we really want, we have some kids like DD and Hughes who can show them around on visits. Martez aside, we've done very well there with the top kids which is what you want.

Sorry Calves, I also agree with irish21. Zook does have alot of Chicago kids drinking the KoolAid if you will, but most of his recruits are 2nd tier guys. They just aren't in our ballpark. We are going for only the best of the best in the Chicago area, and aside from Martez Wilson, we've gotten just about everyone we've wanted during CW's time. I probably am forgetting someone, but they can't be that great if its that hard to remember them. Tez was the only real recruit that it hurt to lose to the Zookster.

IrishNY - your post hit just after mine, and I'm in 100% agreement with you. We're doing exactly as we should hope in the area thus far.

While I agree with much of what has been said by all, I struggle with the definition of pipeline, specifically to a city the size of Chicago. In my mind a pipeline exists to a specific school. We are establishing a "presence" in Chicago and intend to leverage that presence to draw the recruits we want to ND. If in that process a "pipeline" is established to a specific school even better. Just my opinion.

While I agree with much of what has been said by all, I struggle with the definition of pipeline, specifically to a city the size of Chicago. In my mind a pipeline exists to a specific school. We are establishing a "presence" in Chicago and intend to leverage that presence to draw the recruits we want to ND. If in that process a "pipeline" is established to a specific school even better. Just my opinion.

 

Thats my take on it.Zookster is building a pipeline, while we are establishing presence. You put it beautifully.

A lot of those guys Zook is getting this year are second tier players whose only offers came from Illinois. Im happy taking the top 1 or 2 players from Chicago every year. Notre Dame can recruit nationally, so a base isnt really that important. We get top talent out of the midwest, the south, Jersey, and California as well as Chicago and its suburbs.

 

I agree Irish21. Hey Zook can get all of the 2nd tier guys he wants...But ND has got or is in on the top 3 players in the state...Fleming, Cwynar, and Filer. That speaks volumns. Mark my words, Zook is hoppin' mad over it too. You may have topped us once, but not again. Rock-on-Irish!

The one area where we need to get a bigger "presence"/"pipeline" whatever you want to call it is in the state of TEXAS.

 

i think we are doing OK in the following football hotbeds:

California

Florida

OH/PA

Southeast (GA, SC/NC)

 

 

and FWIW, can't we get anything going in Louisiana with all those catholic schools down there? they produce moster lineman and heisman caliber RB's by the dozens it seems...

the catholic schools ARE the public schools in lousiana. forget sending your kid to a real public school, they would never learn to tell time, let alone read or write.

We want a Chicago pipeline for all of the studs, not the duds that Illinois is going after. DD, Hughes, Fleming, and now possibly Filer. We're donig very well in Chicagoland, and we've clearly reestablished ourselves.

 

The reason why you won't see us taking 5 or 6 kids from Chicago is because we're still successful recruiting nationally, and there usually aren't even that many kids in Chicago worth offering. If CW wanted, I have no doubt we could fill our ENTIRE class with kids from the Chicago area.