Notre Dame got more than it bargained for when Charlotte (N.C.) Catholic High's Elijah Hood -- the No. 1 ranked athlete in the Class of 2014 on the Rivals 100 -- committed to the Irish a week ago. They just may have picked up their best recruiting coordinator, too.
Ever since he gave his verbal commitment, Hood (@EHood34) has been tweeting just about every other elite junior recruit with an offer from the Irish, encouraging them to follow him to South Bend (h/t The Big Lead).
"It's all I think about as soon as I'm done with my workouts," Hood told the South Bend Tribune. "All right, what am I going to do to help my university get better? It's just my love for ND showing."
Using the hashtag #GoldenArmy14, Hood has reached out to quarterbacks, wide receivers, offensive linemen, linebackers and defensive lineman -- anybody who might make his job easier when he arrives on campus after his prep senior season.
Here are a few samples of the messages Hood has sent out to 2014 recruits on Twitter:
- To Central East (Fresno, Calif.) High WR/CB Michiah Quick on May 4: "@ItsQuicker No.1 WR should go to the school that can offer him the no. 1 future. Not just in football but for life. #GoldenArmy14 #Irish"
- To Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.) High QB Kyle Allen and WR Mark Andrews on May 1: "If we bring @KyleAllen_10 along better grab "the tower" known as @Mandrews_81 hes taller then a lot of line men #MismatchCity #GoldenArmy14"
- To Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic High OT Quenton Nelson, Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) High OG Sam Mustipher, St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) Prep OT Jimmy Byrne, Har-Ber (Springdale, Ark.) High DT Josh Frazier, Montgomery Bell (Nashville, Tenn.) Academy OT Alex Bars, Poly (Brooklyn, N.Y.) Prep DT Jay Hayes and Demarest (N.J.) High DE Andrew Trumbetti on May 1: "@BigQ56 @IAmFiveTwo @Jimbo_Slice76 @JoshuaFrazier99 @Alex_Bars70 @JayHayesND @AndrewTrumbetti The ones up front matter most! #GoldenArmy14"
Mustipher, Byrne, Hayes and Trumbetti had already committed to Notre Dame before Hood began his Twitter campaign, but Nelson gave his verbal after Hood reached out with the following tweet: "The Q knows where to be, got to get the #QtoND."
Coincidence? Perhaps. But maybe not if Frazier and Bars -- both of whom have Irish offers and have not yet committed -- join Notre Dame's Class of 2014 in the near future.
"Even though we're all over the place, we're coming together and we're still showing that we can be a strong unit even if we're from different areas, from different regions, from different backgrounds," added Hood. "Notre Dame takes everybody. It's a special place, and I'm just trying to get that across to these guys. I think they're feeling the message."
If the NFL isn't in Hood's future, he at least should land a job somewhere as a Social Media Recruiting Coordinator. And others are sure to follow.
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