Notre Dame Football: Ranking 3 biggest recruiting misses of Brian Kelly era

Despite recent improvement, Brian Kelly’s recruiting for Notre Dame football has certainly had its ups and downs. Here are a few of his biggest misses.

Perfection, often a necessity when pursuing a national championship, has seemingly eluded Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly throughout his coaching career. However, his last few years with the team appear to have the program trending in the right direction.

While Kelly has experienced much success in developing certain position groups such as offensive line and tight end, there has been an overall lack in recruiting skill position players on the offensive side of the ball. In fact, Greg Bryant (No. 45) remained Kelly’s sole top 50 nationally ranked skill position recruit prior to the 2020 season.

However, Irish fans should be encouraged to see wide receiver Jordan Johnson and running back Chris Tyree among the Irish’s top three 2020 recruits. Nevertheless, things haven’t always looked this bright.

Here’s a look at some of the most prized recruits who could’ve donned blue and gold under Kelly if they hadn’t slipped away.