Jarron Jones and Arik Armstead Need to be Fighting Irish

Ok I'm sure some if not all of you know I'm a huge Notre Dame fan. It started at my first game back in the late 80's up in South Bend when I got a chance to meet all the players while staying at an average at best hotel in Plymouth, Indiana the night before the game. Ever since I meet Ricky Watters, Rocket, Tony Rice, Tony Brooks, Chris Zorich, Jerome Bettis, and many others I've been hooked. Notre Dame was not only the elite of the elite back then they had good guys who were all class acts and played hard every single snap. Unfortunately it's been hard to find a consistent Notre Dame squad since the early 90's that have displayed a passion on and off the field throughout the season. And of course win.

But hopefully all that changes with 2nd year head coach Brian Kelly. He's already brought back the Lou Holtz feel with the passion and drive and all out execution from top to bottom in the way he develops his program. He handles adversity and seems to have the Irish headed back to the glory Fighting days when they would never give up until the final whistle was blown on Saturdays. Last season he brought in elite defensive recruits with the likes of Aaron Lynch, Stephon Tuitt, Ishaq Williams, Ben Councell and many others to help form what will hopefully become a dominant bunch in the near future. I've gone on record saying in order for his second true recruiting class to be a success he needs to land at least one feature tailback like Keith Marshall out of North Carolina. I'm having serious doubts whether Marshall will even give ND a chance and I'm hearing he is pretty much a lock for Georgia.

But I'm not hear to talk about Marshall. I'm here to give you some good news Irish fans. I'm talking about getting some more elite defensive linemen. Some of the big guys in the trenches that help you win games. I'm talking about Jarron Jones who just recently decommitted from Penn State after taking a visit to Notre Dame. The 6'5 308 lbs defensive tackle from Rochester, New York has Fighting Irish written all over him. He's a top 100 national recruit and after watching his film he should bring back fond memories of Bryant Young who once dominated for the Blue and Gold...



The other guy I want to talk about is Arik Armstead. He's a 5 star defensive end who is currently a USC commit but is looking to bolt for the right school. He wants to play hoops too and he has hopes of visiting Notre Dame on an official this fall. I got a real good feeling this 6'8 280 lb strongside defensive end from Elk Grove, California picks Notre Dame when the ink dries on National Signing day.



Last recruiting cycle ND Nation was drooling at the thought of guys with the talent of Lynch, Tuitt, and Ishaq playing next to one another in the same class. This season you should feel the same about Jones and Armstead. Getting these two is the difference between being a good team and being a great team in my opinion. It's that good old fashion feeling you had as a Notre Dame fan back in the late 80's that you knew your team wouldn't allow the other team to score on you. With these two in the fold Notre Dame would definitely be back.