In less than a month, Notre Dame’s new defensive coordinator added a pair of final 6-foot-6 defensive engagements. Obtaining may not be as good for Marcus Freeman, but with final defensive three-star consensus Aiden Gobaira (Chantilly High School; Va.) committing Saturday afternoon, the honeymoon period will last at least a little longer.
After visiting the campus last week, although he did not meet with any coaches or tour any facilities due to the continued dead recruitment period caused by the coronavirus, Gobaira chose Irish over the expected pioneer Penn State, Virginia and Virginia Tech, half Big Ten, Arizona State representing the West Coast, and Vanderbilt as a SEC representative and perhaps a Notre Dame recruiting challenger to keep an eye on the next cycle or two.
“Why isn’t Notre Dame the issue, really,” Gobaira told Illustrated Blue and Gold. “You have a great academic school that is among the top 20 in the country, you have a football program that has just been eliminated in college football. It is simply the best of both worlds. “
Gobaira’s length alone makes it an intriguing prospect, the 26th defensive position on the weak side of the category, according to rivals.com. He hasn’t played a junior season yet – Virginia can still squeeze into a condensed schedule this spring – but his second film showed that Gobaira is already strong enough to handle a blocker while disarming. If he adds a little more muscle to his 1.8m, 90kg body, Gobaira will be the physical prototype of a Power Five defensive tip.
Despite its length, Gobaira is agile enough to get around the edge of the line, not to mention quick enough to track moves across the field.
Both Gobaira and the four-star consensus Tyson Ford (John Burroughs School; St. Louis) can be ideal. Vyper ends in Freeman’s defense, a position assignment that the defensive coordinator said will remain unchanged as he tries to adapt more to his players than to force them to bend towards his previous lexicon. (Former Vypers: Daelin Hayes, Julian Okwara.)
Defensive line coach Mike Elston further suggested that the Vyper’s role will remain unchanged under Freeman.
“Vyper’s position will always be standing in a two-point stance,” said Elston on Wednesday, when the Irishman ended the 2021 recruitment cycle. “They will be involved in covering about 15 to 20 percent of the game, in which they will cover a tight end man-a-man or a running back. We will move them back to the second level sometimes outside the ball and make a blitz from there and hit them in gap B or do different things with them. We are going to play on the third down with more Vypers in the game than (big) defensive ends because there are some cover components and things like that.
“Vyper, we want them to be a little bit more athletic on the move in space and coverage (than the big defensive ends), but they both need to be elite pass runners.”
Upon joining Ford, Gobaira is the sixth appointment in the 2022 class, a recruitment cycle that will be marked by a possible shortage of scholarships across the country as schools navigate the effects of the general eligibility exemption during the pandemic. and the expected approval of a single transfer allowance for each player without an excluded season.