Tom Lemming Quotations

One of the best classes I've seen in the last 10 years.

Next year, Miami will be back in business, but right now they are suffering a lot. Devlin said that's why he left, because the coach who was recruiting him was fired. You'll be hearing that same thing with several players nationally.

He will be an instant impact back as a freshman.

He has two older brothers who were accomplished, big-time passers and he's been training for this since he was 5 years old. He's a precision passer and he's miles ahead of everyone else I've seen this year.

He has the best hands of any back I've seen in the country. He catches everything.

He's getting such great talent, people will be mad next year if they don't win big, if they're not in the BCS, if they are not title contenders with all the talent they are getting. People don't like sitting around and waiting. They are going to be on his butt if he loses three games next year.

I think it sends a message that Notre Dame is back in business. It gives them a little oomph going into next year.

It could be the first time that only one of the teams finishes in the top 10 in a long time. There's always been two of them and most of the time all three (in the top 10).

I think Urban Meyer has a future Heisman Trophy candidate, a guy who's going to lead them to a national championship.

Every year kids get mad. It's just not in front of the Knight Commission.

The track record when schools bring three guys in so close together is that at least one will transfer quickly.

Some people think all these guys from the pros, like Weis and Carroll, can just universally be good recruiters, because they're coming from the NFL,

Schilling was a real good catch. And they could get more.

Zook did a masterful job of recruiting, especially considering Illinois was 2-9 last season and finished last in the Big Ten. Because the state was down, they went national with a positive, aggressive attitude.

They have beaten Big Ten schools for some kids. They will sign players at every position, a lot of good athletes.

They had a great season and it wasn't reflected in recruiting. They were handcuffed because of negative publicity leading into recruiting.

It's all about getting as much exposure as possible. This is the biggest decision of their young lives so the more schools they visit, the more opportunities they will have to make the best choice.

It's the biggest in-season recruiting weekend Notre Dame's ever had.

The offensive linemen they've brought in is a real good group. I like their linemen. It's not going to be a super highly rated one, but it's a real competitive one.

That's a better showing than they've had at any time since the 1980s.

(Notre Dame is) keeping him warm. Chances are good they're not going to go after him.

Any time you have a small senior class, you feel it. There are leadership issues. But the real challenge is that team is going to be lacking in depth, rather mature depth, guys with experience. The plus side is that the guys coming in will be much better athletes, and Charlie's not afraid to throw a young guy into the fire.

Size has become a lot more important now. With linemen, it's all about size or growth potential.

I'm probably part of the problem. It's too much attention on these kids who may not even be that great.

Charlie also has an advantage when he's talking to kids, because he's won Super Bowls with his offense. Not every pro coach who comes into the colleges can say that. Now Pete Carroll surrounded himself with great recruiters and he's a great recruiter himself. His pitch was that he could get his recruits to the pros, and he's delivered. USC is not that easy of a place to recruit -- the facilities are below average, the stadium's below average, the neighborhood's below average, but he's made it look easy.

If I had to name one recruiter that would be the best in the country this year, it would be Larry Johnson.

He's miles ahead of everyone else I've seen.

All of a sudden, a kid shows up and sneaks into the picture without a jersey on. I didn't know who he was. Later, he introduced himself. He was on an unofficial trip to Iowa with his father. He was just trying to make people aware of him.