Notre Dame lands lucky number 13 in Sheldon Day, lose out on Tommy Schutt

Notre Dame landed one of it's "biggest" commitments on Tuesday when Indianapolis Warren Central defensive tackle Sheldon Day confirmed his verbal. Day who is listed at 6'2 286 lbs is the second prospect out of Indianapolis to join the class with the other being Cathedral safety John Turner.

As you probably know Notre Dame has always had difficulty getting defensive tackles. For whatever reason it's been a big time swing and miss position for the Fighting Irish when trying to get the elite recruits. Day isn't as heavily recruited as Gerald McCoy or Marvin Austin but he is extremely important for Notre Dame in order to build depth along the defensive line. Last year the Irish brought in elite defensive ends in Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt among others and this year the interior is being focused on.

Day looks like a beast on film. He reminds me a lot of Trevor Laws. Quick hands, good burst, and a body that appears at least on film ready to contribute right away. Louis Nix, aka Irish Chocolate, was overweight when he enrolled and needed time to get into playing shape with the grueling workouts executed by strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo. Day will have the benefit of coming in at a much lighter weight and will backup Nix at the nose tackle position starting in 2012.

If Notre Dame wants to get back to an elite defense it is imperative to land more recruits like Day. Defensive tackles are always hard to find but it looks like defensive coordinator Bob Diaco got a potentially great one in Day. Day picked Notre Dame over offers from Arkansas, Florida, LSU, Michigan, and many others. The 4 star d-tackle is the third ranked prospect in the state of Indiana and 22nd overall at his position nationally.

With the verbal commitment of Day top defensive tackle prospect Tommy Schutt has been informed by the Notre Dame coaching staff that he would no longer be recruited despite a visit set up for this week. Schutt told Irish Illustrated.com's Jake Brown that he planned on committing this week to the Irish. Look for Schutt to verbal to Florida soon.

And don't bother asking me why Notre Dame would stop recruiting Schutt with the verbal of Day. You can never have too many defensive tackles and it makes absolutely no sense to stop recruiting a kid who was about to commit and is currently the 29th overall prospect in the whole nation.