Should Notre Dame Football be worried about 5-star Keon Keeley?

Five-star recruit Keon Keeley, the cornerstone of Notre Dame football’s 2023 class, is taking a visit to Alabama. Should the Irish worry? 

Notre Dame football has been one of the star programs in the 2023 recruiting class and first-year head coach Marcus Freeman has been extremely effective.

Right now, the Irish are ranked No. 2 in the 247 sports team composite rankings and with the commitment of Jaiden Ausberry coming down the pike for Notre Dame football, the Irish could be taking that No. 1 spot back soon.

However, there is some reporting out about Notre Dame’s prized 2023 recruit — Keon Keeley — that he’s going to take a visit to Alabama and that has to have the Irish worried.

A potential flip from Notre Dame to Alabama football?

This is according to 247 sports and Keeley, the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class according to the On3 consensus rankings, as well as the No. 1 edge rusher. His commitment was a huge victory for the Irish and it came last June.

One thing that’s interesting about it though is that Freeman wasn’t the head coach at the time. He was the defensive coordinator and the fact that he has helped Notre Dame hold Keeley’s commitment has been impressive too.

Yet, this Alabama visit is worrisome for the Irish and the Crimson Tide now has a 28 percent chance to flip his commitment according to the On3 prediction machine which seems high.

This weekend, Keeley will just be taking an unofficial visit and the objective for Alabama football is likely to get him back for a visit this fall.

Alabama also isn’t going to have a hard time finding things to sell Keeley, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound pass rusher, just look at Will Anderson and the many Alabama defenders who have gone in the first round of the NFL draft under Nick Saban.

I’m sure they are telling Keeley he’ll be able to compete for Anderson’s job next season after the potential top-five pick heads to the pros.

I don’t see Keeley flipping this weekend or anything, but if Notre Dame football struggles this fall, like in the first game against Ohio State, it could open the door further for Alabama to negatively recruit against the Irish.

It wouldn’t be untruthful to say that Notre Dame hasn’t been able to compete with the SEC. It hasn’t in the playoff or BCS era and its former head coach just left for an SEC head coaching job.

And Keeley isn’t the only Notre Dame commitment Alabama is still pushing for. Four-star (No. 45 overall) safety Peyton Bowen is another and the Denton, Texas prospect is also being pursued heavily by Texas A&M.

Freeman and the Irish have held off flip attempts before and they can do it again. But the first-year head coach needs to be successful on the field, otherwise, teams like Alabama and others in the SEC will just ramp up their pursuits.