Army Bowl: Kelly down to three
SAN ANTONIO -- Caleb Kelly is down to three schools and the next step will be to figure out which one works best.
The five-star linebacker from Fresno (Calif.) Clovis West said Monday at U.S. Army All-American Bowl practice that he’s finalized his top list and a decision won’t come until National Signing Day.
“The top group is probably Oregon, Notre Dame and Oklahoma because Michigan hasn’t contacted me since they got the new d-coordinator so I don’t really think they want to be in it,” Kelly said.
Oklahoma has been a longstanding frontrunner for Kelly, who has friends from Fresno on the team and has an extensive relationship with the Sooners’ coaching staff.
“The coaching staff, they were the first guys to offer me, so I’m probably closest with that coaching staff,” Kelly said. “Everybody kind of knows they’ve been up on my list always and the fan base all knows about me and the school has been there the longest.
“Academic-wise, they have what I’m looking for. All the schools do. I kind of made them my tops because they’re all well-rounded. I’m really close with Mike Stoops, Bob Stoops, they contact me all the time.”
A December visit to Notre Dame has the Irish in the running.
“Academics over there,” Kelly said. “They just preach it. They say it’s hard but they have the resources over there. Notre Dame is the school after football, that’s the ideal everybody is talking about. When people hear Notre Dame in my schools they always say the connections after football and so that’s Notre Dame’s biggest pitch.
“The coaches over there, (Brian) VanGorder, he had two OK seasons and (Mike) Elston is really cool. (Mike) Denbrock recruits my area and they were like the third to offer me and they’ve been there for a long time.”
The one Pac-12 school left is Oregon and while it’s not down the road it definitely helps that it’s closer to home. It also helps that Kelly could see early playing time in Eugene because the Ducks will need linebacker help.
“That’s kind of like the home school out of the three,” Kelly said. “It’s like 11 hours away driving but it’s the closest. They’re kind of like my West Coast school.
“They’re losing a lot of linebackers and they need a lot of help. You could kind of see that in the last game (TCU) but they had it, too. They said they’re lacking a little bit of leadership and if I came I’d have to play that role so that would be cool.
“The coaches there have been there forever so you know they’re probably not going anywhere and they’ve had the winning seasons over there so it’s pretty secure.”