Tommy Tremble became the 20th commit in the 2018 Notre Dame recruiting class when he announced for the Irish at his school today. The 6’4″, 225-pound Georgian with the name of a Stan Lee character has had a bit of an up and down recruitment, seemingly trending to and away from various suitors along the way. Notre Dame made a big impression on him during Irish Invasion, though, which laid the foundation for the eventual commitment. Tremble was going to official for the Georgia game but broke his ankle just before it, so he rescheduled for the USC game. That visit went really well, and then he hitched a ride a few weeks later with a friend who was visiting as a regular student. The coaching staff never let up in their pursuit either, undeterred by hard pushes from UCLA and Michigan. Yes, the Irish staff went head-to-head with Chip Kelly and Jim Harbaugh and won. Go figure.
Tremble was at the Opening Regional in Atlanta last summer, but didn’t get an invitation to the finals in Eugene. Maybe they didn’t like his work in drills, because the measurables he put up were outstanding for someone his size – laser-timed 4.63 40, 4.2 shuttle, 36″ vertical, 35′ powerball throw. A 4.2 shuttle for a guy who’s 6’4″! Fellow Irish commit George Takacs is a traditional tight end, while as you might have guessed from those numbers Tremble is more in the flex mold. They compliment each other very well, just as Brock Wright and Cole Kmet did in the 2017 cycle.
Recruiting Service Rankings
247 Composite — 3 star (.8797), #473 overall, #20 TE, #51 in GA
247 Sports — 3 star (88 rating), #381 overall, #17 TE, #39 in GA
Rivals — 3 star (5.7 rating), NR overall, #18 TE, #52 in GA
ESPN — 3 star (79 rating), NR overall, #10 TE, #58 in GA
Note: You may notice that Tremble’s Scout ranking is conspicuously absent. 247 and Scout merged a few months ago; they kept some things separate for a while, but just in the last month they phased out the Scout rankings.
Cohort
In addition to Notre Dame, UCLA, and Michigan, Tommy Tremble holds Power 5 offers from Auburn, Cal, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vandy, and West Virginia, among others, and Ivy League offers from Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton, and Yale.
Highlights
As noted above, Tremble broke his ankle early in the season, so unfortunately senior highlights are hard to come by. There’s just one game from this year available on his Hudl profile; I reviewed that video too, but most of this breakdown is from his junior video below. That senior video is a bit less than a minute long and shows him on offense and defense. For those of you who wonder about DCE’s him to OLB or WDE, judging by the tackling in that video I, uh, would recommend against it.
Tremble shows outstanding hands and a good catch radius – he catches the ball away from his body, softly and effortlessly, and reacts well when the throw is off the mark. He’s also fearless in traffic and looks like he has the mindset of “owning” the ball in the air. He also shows a decent amount of wiggle for a big guy; I was a little surprised at how many missed tackles there are on this reel. He’ll lower his shoulder when he gets the chance, too. He’s also a willing and able blocker; his junior film includes a lot of blocking in an H-back role, and in that one senior game I was pleasantly surprised by his physicality as a blocker. He needs to add some good bulk to his frame and polish his technique, but has a great skill set to work with.
Impact
Tremble will definitely be a big part of the tight end picture in South Bend, but it probably won’t be in 2018. Tremble needs to get to work with Matt Balis to be ready in 2019, when Nic Weishar and possibly Alize Mack will have moved on. With Wright and Kmet in the 2017 class and Takacs and Tremble in the 2018 class, Notre Dame has set up a great pipeline of athletic, versatile players for Chip Long’s tight-end heavy offense.
Welcome to the Irish family, Tommy!
I think this means NIc Weishar does not get his 5th year.
Weishar already said he’s coming back, which is huge – Tremble won’t be ready for the two deep next year, especially since he missed most of his senior season with the ankle injury. Weishar and Mack will be the starters and Wright and Kmet the well-used backups, while Tremble gets to redshirt. Takacs is an early enrollee, so he might be able to progress fast enough to see the field, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he redshirts too barring injury to the older guys.
Aren’t there rumors that Mack might not be back in town?
There are always rumors about Mack. It seems to be a popular pastime for many people, for some reason. Supposedly he put his name in to the draft evaluation committee. I’m not sure I buy that – I mean, it would take an exceptional level of delusion to think he’s ready to jump, but hey, Omar Cook jumped once upon a time. Who is Omar Cook, you ask? Exactly.
Even if he did put his name in, though, I’m pretty confident he’ll get an evaluation of “UFA.” He has plenty to work on. No other substantiated rumors about transferring or academic issues that I’ve seen, although of course there are plenty who constantly assume he’s about to be declare ineligible.
If not Mack, what about THE BOYS?
With Tremble, who won’t sign next week so perhaps not as fully committed, we are at 87 scholarships for 85 spaces. Do we really need 6 TEs? Even Chip Long can’t play that many.
If you assume they will take 4 more recruits, so some people have to go. We are too thin to afford not to have everyone on the OL, except Jimmy Byrne, back.
If you assume we get to 91, or perhaps 92 with Daniel Cage, that is lot of extra people.
There will obviously be transfers or retirements, but some will be hard decisions. Do you take back Chris Finke’s scholarship? I think Weishar will be one of those hard decisions. Wright and Kmet will have to step up, and Mack will have to improve.
Grey shirts?
Dude… I don’t think you’re hearing me… Weishar already said he’s coming back, right after Echoes. He wouldn’t say that if the staff hadn’t given him the green light to return. That decision is already made. And the number of TEs we need in this class isn’t about 2018, it’s about 2019. I don’t want a TE depth chart of Wright, Kmet, Takacs, and 1-2 true frosh in 2019.
I think we can count on Cage being done. By the time next season starts he won’t have played for nearly two years, and he’ll have three concussions and conditioning issues in his past. I think he’ll make the smarter long-term decision and hang ’em up. I think there’s a solid chance David Adams will be a medical casualty as well – he was already behind due to shoulder surgery as a HS senior, and he just had shoulder surgery again.
Definite non-fifths are Big Q, Byrne, Canteen, and Mokwuah. Definite fifths are Weishar, Tranquill, Mustipher, Bars, J. Hayes, and Newsome. I think that we’ll also see a handful of transfers for guys who are buried and who will be told in no uncertain terms that they’re buried. Don’t want to speculate on those names out of fairness to them, but it’s not hard to guess who might be in that group.
TL,DR: Don’t worry about the numbers. We’ll never have a problem with the numbers. Also, we’ll never, ever grey shirt. Ever. It’s not something the admin would ever sign off on, and I’m fine with that.
I am hearing you, and I am sure that is his intention. I know of players (now alumni) who even went through spring ball with the intention of being back who had to go due to numbers. Their contributions over the years exceeded Weishar. Until he is there in the fall, he is not there.
I am sure the nonplayers is where we will see the ‘cuts’. I just have a hard time seeing 6 of them if you don’t include Weishar. I doubt you would get rid of a freshman who redshirted so that means rising juniors and above.
Most lists assume, and the one where we are at 87 does, Adams is gone. I think that is a viable assumption, but he has not announced that. Not sure what St. Brown would do. I don’t think any other underclassmen make sense to leave early.
Every year at this time we say it is tight, and that is a good problem. Every year it does work out.
Not a hill I’m dying on, just curious: Meal table, turf, jumbotron…
Things change and NCAA tacitly approves of greyshirting. Obviously gives other the schools an advantage. Is it really impossible that ND adopts this practice, and if so, why?
Thanks!
I can’t speak for ND, only myself. I find greyshirting ethically repugnant. I don’t want ND football to be competitive through an ethically repugnant practice. If it becomes necessary to greyshirt to compete, then I say we join the Ivies.
I dunno, I think it’s case-specific. If a kid really wants to go to a school and there’s no room for him but they will if he’ll join in the following spring, what’s so ethically repugnant about that? Similarly, for somebody who’s young for his grade, if he decided that he was going to redshirt anyways and thought something like a gap semester wouldn’t be a terrible idea (i.e., work out at home and do something other than go straight to class), again, what’s so bad about that?
What’s bad is the surprise grayshirts – e.g., what happened with that dude at Bama who found out on signing day that there was no room and he either needed to scramble to another school or figure out what to do for the next fall because he couldn’t be on campus.
Frankly, if we could avoid the latter – i.e., make sure all grayshirts are well-telegraphed – I think it would be totally fine and almost would be counterproductive not to be considered. In terms of timing of student life, there’s no difference between an early enrollee and a grayshirt, and we do early enrollees, so it’s not like we can say we want all freshmen to start in the fall.
As if the Ivies don’t have their own methods…”sure, yeah, we don’t give athletic scholarships…but here, footbaw player, here’s a ton of ‘academic aid’ that you wouldn’t qualify for under our normal admissions procedure…”
The difference is there is nothing morally questionable about meals, turf, or a jumbotron. Those are qualitative shifts and completely different from “hey kid, I know we told you you had a scholarship, but why don’t you hang out and pay your way for a year, and then we’ll see.” I know nd09hls12 posited two scenarios where he questions what is wrong with the practice, and as long as it’s all above board and understood what’s going to happen, and then followed through (ie, the school doesn’t yank it and just sign a higher rated kid), then there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. We all know, however, that’s not how it happens in 99% of cases. So in answer to both of you, I guess, I can see one-off cases where ND accepts a kid who just wants to be at ND that bad, but I don’t see how that’s any different than a preferred walk-on. What I don’t see is ND accepting a kid with a promise of “sure kid, next year” and then yanking it because footbaw is biznis.
Makes sense.
I accept.
Thanks!
Crootin is rolling!!
Question for the group inspired by Brendan’s comment on the HG thread: what does one get for paying for the pay ‘crooting sites, and is it worth it? I’ve started paying increasing attention to recruiting over the past year or so, but I’m wondering if you can glean all that’s really worth paying attention to without spending money. That is, there’s the 247 crystal balls, twitter, etc. that seems to convey a lot of relevant information. Further, the free stories you can find often are the same in their cheery optimism: a kid was “blown away” by X visit he just went on (just like he was “blown away” by the other three official visits he has been on); this 3-star that just committed really should be a 4-star because he’s so talented (note: I find these types of articles both annoying and amusing, because this generally seems to apply to almost every 3-star); etc.
As you can gather from the above, I’m a bit skeptical of the sites, but maybe I’m really missing out by not subscribing. Am I missing out? Also, if some are better than others, I’m all for that – I am at least considering subscribing to one of them.
Note: this is not intended as a slight on Tremble just because he’s a 3-star. Harbaugh and Chip Kelly wanted this dude, so that’s good enough for me. Maybe he really is a 3-star who should be a 4-star.
You can get a lot of the surface info from non-sub articles and CBs and stuff. But if you ever see a CB and think “I’d really like to know why Tom/Steve put that CB in” then a subscription might be a good idea.
Whether it’s worth the $140/year or whatever is completely subjective. You do get a lot more to read through and its much better information — although the pay site guys always have lines they won’t cross as far as dishing out info goes.
I went the non-sub route for months before joining the crew. Now that I have access to the VIP info, I’d hate to to back to that. But that’s just me.
I’m pretty sure 247 does a “get 3 months free” type deal every year during the summer. If you’re hesitant about getting a sub, that might be a good start. The best stuff always comes out in December/January though.
Depends on what you’re looking for. If you want serious analysis, ISD is the best place hands down. I think Mike, God love him, is a bit of a crusty old man at this point, but I don’t think there’s any better analyst covering ND than Jamie Uyeyama. Their recruiting team is good too, but they don’t have the nationwide network of the bigger sites and thus their non-ND recruiting coverage isn’t as thorough. For many that doesn’t matter, of course.
Rivals has a lot of cache as the big boy who’s been in it the longest. Their national network is extensive and the mods for all sites, for the most part, are pretty straight up. They probably do a better job of covering non-football sports than the other ND sites, if that’s your jam, and they can boast the inimitable Lou Somogyi as a feature writer. Lou forgot more about ND yesterday than most us will know in our lifetimes. Their ND recruiting guys are good, not spectacular in terms of output but good. I’m not a fan of Driskell. I’ll leave it at that.
The 247/Scout merger shook things up a bit. If you’re looking for volume of recruiting coverage, 247 laps the field, but it isn’t always going to be super deep. Scout had probably the best writing staff with Sampson, Prister, and O’Malley, and all of those guys have stayed on to this point – Sampson in particular is the most reporter-ish of any of the website guys, IMO. That helped add some meat to 247’s coverage. Loy and Sinclair verge on creepy sometimes with how much they communicate with kids, but that’s their thing and it results in the site having a ton of first-hand commentary, back stories, etc.
If you’re a recruitnik, go with 247. If you want analysis, go with ISD. If you want great history pieces, go with Rivals. Or go the free route and don’t get obsessed as we do. 🙂
Yeah, I don’t know if it was just me, but the old Scout site used to be basically available behind the paywall by just clicking the links off twitter on my phone, and I found the recruit stories – i.e., the ones by Sinclair and, to a lesser degree, Sampson – totally inane (this was before they merged with 247, but I can’t even bring myself follow Loy on Twitter because his feed is inane enough as is; I can’t even imagine how bad his articles are). O’Malley and Prister at least would have some opinions that were interesting.
It sounds like I’d probably prefer ISD.
Loy and Sinclair aren’t writers – their strengths are, um, dogged coverage, for better or worse. Sampson filled in on Scout recruiting coverage when they lost a couple of guys, it’s not really his strength so I wouldn’t judge him too much by that. His “state of the program” articles are much better, and as noted, he’s the closest thing to a “real” reporter (think Eric Hansen) that the pay sites have. You would like his stuff, I think – he tends to have a more critical take on things than most of the other guys. 🙂
If you’re more interested in in-depth ND coverage on everything about the program than up-to-the-minute nationwide recruiting coverage, definitely skip 247 and Rivals in favor of ISD.
I am am a recruiting nut. I can’t get enough of it. I am a member of gone Irish pay site in Irish Sports Daily where I have been a member for years and years. I use to be a member of Blue and Gold.com but I dropped them this year. It was just pointless paying when they pretty much give away everything for free.
When it comes to being plugged in to everything Irish it’s tough to find someone better than Mike Frank IMO. I think Mike Frank is the best in the business at what he does. If you have a question about anything Irish related he has the best site and here recently he has started a special recruiting podcast only for paying members to go along with his weekly power hour podcast. He also has Jamie Uyeyama who is outstanding at breaking down game tape as well as recruiting.
Honestly there is so much info out there you really can get by without paying a dime to the big three sites. I choose to pay because I like Mike Frank and Jamie Uyeyama but everyone pretty much have guys that know their stuff like Brendan here on this site. There is Tom Loy who is outstanding when it comes to covering Irish recruiting as well as Bryan Driskell who is also really good with everything x and o related. There are some Irish sites that I think are trash and I avoid them but everyone who follows Notre Dame knows who they are. All the pay sites let you try them for free. Give one a look. If you do pick one and you get use to getting the extra info that comes with joining those sites you will not want to go back IMO.
Thanks guys, all really helpful. I’ll probably try out ISD – I think the film break-downs of our current players is probably a value-add that I’d like.
As someone who once paid, and now doesn’t here are my thoughts (spoiler: I don’t miss paying, but I am also way busier at work and in life than I used to be).
The things you miss out on are the details and the stories about recruiting and the WHY.
If you just want to follow who might commit, that is pretty easy for free. The only time I miss it all year is the time after the bowl season, before NSD, because there’s nothing else to read for CFB.
This is a site I use to track all the actual events that happen. One of the things Mike Frank always says (or said) is follow what they do, not what they say. This has unofficial/official visits, coach visits, offers, commits, etc.
https://247sports.com/college/notre-dame/Institution/Notre-Dame-Fighting-Irish-24064/TimelineEvents
If you do want to pay, I recommend ISD. They do great recruiting coverage, and their discussion boards have a lot of students and people really in tune with the program. I also find that the non-national coverage tends to eliminate a lot of the non-football-savvy folk.
Jamie U is both absolutely awesome at his player analysis and an awesome guy (you might even say he is a DOOOOOD). Driskell was there for a bit and came across as a pompous jerk. He used to be a coach so he makes it clear that you are an idiot for every questioning him.
I also used to be a member of Mike Frank’s site and the only thing I miss are the discussion boards – and I really don’t miss those that much since I can get great ND discussion right here. I do listen to the ISD and B&G podcasts, which really give you a lot of information. I have to differ from others, though and say that while Mike Frank may be tied in, I can barely listen to his podcasts. He is NDN’ish negative when ND loses and over the top positive when they win. There is simply no nuance to his commentary. The only reason I still listen to him is for Jamie’s input. Also, it looks like I am in the minority with B&G, too, because I love coach D’s and Lou’s podcasts. Bryan Driskell may be a bit arrogant and talks over Lou a little, but I think he does a great job of explaining the X’s and O’s in the podcast, even more so than Jamie (since Mike Frank doesn’t give Jamie enough time to talk). The great thing is that both podcasts are free.
As others have said, though, you can always get at least a free month, so try them all out and see if the additional information is worth it and, if so, which format you like best.
Also, not quite on topic, but related, I’ll give a shout out/plug to Chris Wilson’s Rake’s Report (he does a weekly newsletter/email as well as a very enjoyable, sometimes weekly, podcast – no inside information, but a good, balanced, generally optimistic look at ND football and basketball) as well as Eric Hansen and all the guys at the SB Tribune.
There’s just so much great, free, info on ND that the pay sites are sometimes too much.
Hey, CW Is one of our guys! He was part of the old staff and came over with us to 18S. Life has gotten a bit busy for him to contribute here as much as he used to, but I’ll tell him you like his stuff and we’ll see if that gets his lazy butt off the couch. Where he’s probably yelling at Mom about the meatloaf.
Do not check out 18 Stripes man, they are the worst.
Is 18 Stripes man some sort of superhero?
::Paging NDMSPaint::
Yeah that 18 Skidmarks site is garbage. You’re better off sticking to Rock’s House.
I ONLY trust Rock’s House whenever I want insight into the minds of 17 year old athletes.
I’ve had ISD for a little over a year. I mostly got it because I always liked Jamie’s film breakdowns. Those are v. good. His “Six Thoughts on a Thursday” posts are great, too. Sometimes I wish they’d hire a copy editor. I find minor typos in many of their pieces.
I like the BGI podcasts (at least when Driskell and Lou are on; the recruiting ones are less interesting to me). I’ve thought about signing up for their site, but I figured I could only justify subscribing to one.
And here at 18S, there’s a great community and discussion!
I like this kid. He doesn’t run like your average TE and his offer list isn’t what you will see for a consensus three star TE. Big time programs wanted this kid. Had he not got hurt I think he would have been elevated to a 4 star. I think it will take him a couple of years before he is really ready to contribute but when he is ready watch out.
Chase Claypool out for bowl game (shoulder).
Brian Kelly explains Wimbush’s difficulties……@ I feel better now.@
Using golf analogies.
Hey guys, I have a question concerning next year. We all assume that the potentiel starter at left tackle will be Liam Eichenberg. How worried should we be that he did not get the nod for the right tackle position this year. I think the coaches said something about preparing him for his role for next year but I was thinking of both Ronnie and Mike who both started on the right side before switching on the left. What should be our expectation for next year line?
I’m not sure if Eichenberg is a sure thing at LT – depending how the spring battles go, I could see one of the RT tandem from this year possibly moving over with Eichenberg sliding into the LG slot
Dillon Gibbons got scout team player of the year, not sure if he’s going to be groomed to start at guard so quickly but he could be in the mix…
Sounds like it’s pretty up in the air. Would think they have to decide if Kraemer is a starting tackle or getting kicked into guard. If he is going in, Eichenberg and Hainsey probably both start at tackle and that seems pretty cut and dry.
If Kraemer’s staying at tackle, I suppose something previously unforeseen happens with someone moving up (Banks? Gibbons?) to a starting guard spot. Seems like a big jump but I guess we’ll see.
The II podcast broke down the history of the Scout Team Player of the Year last week… and it has basically been meaningless. I wouldn’t read much into that, other than that they probably don’t want Gibbons to transfer to free up a roster spot.
My early prediction:
LT: Hainsey
LG: Bars
C: Mustipher
RG: Kraemer
RT: Eichenberg/Lugg/Banks/Other
I think we’ll see 4/5 postions solidified fairly quickly in the spring.
Wasn’t Hainsey the better run blocker and Kraemer the better pass blocker or am I getting that mixed up?
If Hainsey was the better run blocker wouldn’t they want to keep him more on the right side?
@Well, when the QB is a better runner than a passer it turns a lot around@
In seriousness, Hainsey was good enough to pass Eichenberg and Lugg in these past few months, so he’s probably the best tackle on the team if they kick Kraemer into guard. Guess from there it’s elementary to put the best tackle (and most game experienced tackle) at LT and go on. Hainsey was perceived as the “run blocker” but he played entire series at a time, so it’s not like he can’t/didn’t do any pass pro.
Of course now it sure looks like a huge step down for the o-line next year and 68+56 will be missed big time. I almost feel like they weren’t appreciated enough this season for the few bad moments..
Kramer was the “run blocker”.
You got it mixed up.
So Stepp committed to USC. I was under the impression ND backed off of him because of all his injuries and what-not.
Was that a total misinterpretation of what I was reading?
The 247 article makes it sound like Stepp’s dad played with the USC RB coach, and the guy has been a part of Stepp’s life since he was 10. Did he legit steal Stepp even while Stepp appeared to be the recruiting leader of the class?
I thought I read someone implying that it was an academics / admissions issue – hence the amicable parting
That was my impression after reading that ND was helping him find a landing spot (if I remember correctly).
That was my impression too, Stepp would have been Notre Dame if he had the grades to get in. Shame he went to USC but good on him for going to a P5 school somewhat last minute in the cycle.
Oh ok. I misinterpreted the amicable parting. I guess if it had been them moving on due to performance and injuries, wouldn’t have been so amicable. Sucks he is going to USC.
Yeah, if the 247 Crystal Ball is any indication, looks like USC is closing super strong down the stretch. Gross.