Sting Factor: TE Jack Nickel decommits from Notre Dame

When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.

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Jack Nickel committed to Notre Dame in late July and it was a nice pickup for the Irish at tight end as they dipped back into the Southeast. The Milton, Ga., standout had many other offers but the history and tradition in South Bend plus Nickel’s relationship with position coach John McNulty played major factors.

But in recent days, Nickel backed off his pledge to the Irish and will reset his recruitment. In total, nearly 30 schools have offered so he should not have trouble attracting attention again.

Notre Dame is loaded at tight end and recruiting in the 2022 class is going well, too. But Nickel is a talented prospect who’s been committed for a relatively long time and he could end up playing for one of Notre Dame’s opponents in the coming years.

"If you can point to one position where Notre Dame is not hurting for talent, tight end certainly comes to mind. Notre Dame has a stable of talented young players at the position, and has been trending favorably for class of 2022 tight ends Eli Raridon, an Irish legacy, and Holden Staes, a four-star player from Georgia.

"Nickel is a fine tight end and could have been a good player at Notre Dame. He will end up at another Power Five school and have a solid career." – Mike Singer, BlueAndGold.com

Sting Factor: 3

"Losing Nickel will not break Notre Dame’s back. Michael Mayer is the future at the position and then the Irish have and continue to recruit the position well. There will not be a shortage of tight ends in Notre Dame’s arsenal.

"But his de-commitment is important for two reasons. One, Nickel is a talented, big-bodied kid who can make plays in the passing game and secondly he is from the Southeast. Recruiting that area of the country is crucially important especially for out-of-region teams looking to make a run to the College Football Playoff. Success there also begets more success and Georgia is loaded with players every recruiting cycle.

"Nickel’s decision does not hurt Notre Dame drastically but losing a talented player from the Southeast is never ideal." – Gorney

Sting Factor: 4