Another weird episode in the saga that is the piecing together of the 2019 Notre Dame football recruiting class came about on July 11.
Notre Dame football recruiting wound up refusing the commitment of a four-star wide receiver in T.J. Sheffield on July 11. This was seemingly the second time for this recruiting cycle that the Fighting Irish have turned down a talented four-star high school prospect. No real explanation as to why this is happening has been released by head Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly or anyone else within the program.
As of now, the 2019 Notre Dame Football recruiting class ranks as the seventh best in the nation according to 247Sports Team Composite Rankings. Sheffield would have been the highest ranked wide receiver commit in this cycle so far for the Irish. Three-star Cam Hunt is the only other 2019 commit at wide receiver as of now.
This is not the first time that Notre Dame apparently turned down a potential 2019 commit at a key skill position. Four-star running back, and current Clemson Tigers commit, Chez Mellusi seemed to be refused a pledge to Notre Dame also.
Sheffield and Mellusi are two skilled prospects that could be huge for two other Power Five schools. Mellusi could even be looking at a role as a key contributor for Ann eventual national title Clemson squad in the near future.
It’s difficult to tell what we should make of all this surprising recruiting drama from the Irish. An already solid recruiting class could’ve been much better with these two prospects. Notre Dame does have 17 commits in this class, so the coaching staff might be getting very selective about its recruiting targets at this point.
Next: 5 reasons Brian Kelly can lead the Irish to national title
However, one would have to think that this drama will have some type of negative impact for potential commits of Notre Dame from here on out. Sheffield handled this drama well, and is likely to pick another one of his original suitors like the Arkansas Razorbacks or Tennessee Volunteers. Another prospect might not see this saga in the same light as Sheffield.