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St. Patrick's Day special: Recapping Notre Dame's 2021 Pot of Gold recruiting initiative

photos -jpgby:Ashton Pollard•03/16/22•

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Keeping Keon Keeley in the Notre Dame 2023 class is a priority for the Irish staff. (Photo: Chad Weaver/BGI)

It’s your holiday. You might as well use it.

In 2021, Notre Dame football started a new St. Patrick’s Day recruiting initiative called “Pot of Gold.” You can guess why March 17 was the chosen date. 

They are set to make the push again on Thursday. This time, it’s expected to be even bigger, which is unsurprising given head coach Marcus Freeman‘s dedication to elite recruiting.

With just a few hours left until the Irish holiday officially begins, let’s take a look back at last year’s Pot of Gold recruits.

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Notre Dame spoke with a total of 69 players as part of the initiative in 2021, and around half of them were offered that day. Defensive players topped offensive player 42 to 27. 

Notable offers from the 2021 Pot of Gold initiative

The class of 2023 currently has nine commits, and five of them were involved in the St. Patrick’s Day festivities last year: running back Sedrick Irvin Jr., EDGE Keon Keeley, defensive lineman Brenan Vernon, linebacker Drayk Bowen and safety Peyton Bowen. 

Irvin, Keeley and Peyton Bowen received their offers that day. For obvious reasons, the day sticks out in Irvin’s memory. 

Keeley was the first member of Notre Dame’s 2023 class as of June 28, and he remains the top commitment. The Florida native is the No. 1 EDGE, No. 2 player from Florida and No. 7 player in the country in the 2023 class per On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. 

Also on the defensive side of the ball, Peyton Bowen received his offer to play at Notre Dame as part of the 2021 recruiting push. According to On3 Consensus, Bowen is the No. 4 safety, No. 8 player from Texas and No. 48 player nationally. The 6-0, 180 four star committed to Notre Dame on New Year’s Day.

The Irish spoke with Vernon and Drayk Bowen on March 17 last year, but they already had their offers. Vernon received word of the opportunity on Jan. 31, 2020 while Bowen was offered Feb. 12, 2021.

Notre Dame won’t land him, but they did offer the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class in quarterback Arch Manning last year on St. Patrick’s Day. The nephew of famed NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, the younger Manning is an elite talent coveted by many. 

The Five-Star Plus+ recruit has yet to make his college decision yet, but when he does, expect the quarterback dominoes to start falling across the nation. Per On3 RPM, Alabama is the frontrunner to land Manning at 41.2 percent. Following closely behind is Texas (36.3 percent), and Georgia isn’t out of the race yet. In fact, Manning will be in Athens on Friday.

A few of the biggest names still on Notre Dame’s 2023 board were also offered as part of the recruiting surge last year: quarterback Dante Moore, wide receiver Carnell Tate, offensive tackle Monroe Freeling and athlete Samuel M’Pemba. According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, Moore is the most likely of the group to commit to the Irish (64.4 percent).

So, as you can see, the Pot of Gold push had some great success last year, and Notre Dame hopes for an even higher success rate with some of the big-time prospects they will offer on Thursday. Who will get the call? You’ll have to wait and see, but here are a few potential offers.

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