SOUTH BEND, Ind. - It was a little more than 18 months ago when, stung by the loss of players who had verbally committed to Notre Dame but signed elsewhere, Irish coach Charlie Weis issued his “if they’re looking, we’re looking” mantra.
 
That bold stance was nearly put to a severe test recently.
 
Running back Cierre Wood, who committed to Notre Dame in April, was recently quoted in an espn.com article saying that, while still solidly committed to the Irish, he would take visits elsewhere, most notably Florida, UCLA and possibly Cal.
 
"I just want to take my visits to see what is out there and have some fun with it," said Wood, a senior at Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, Calif. "I'm sold on Notre Dame, that won't change, but I've heard from so many people how fun the visits are, so I plan on taking at least two or three."
 
Not long after, however, before Irish fans everywhere could fall into deep panic, Wood changed his tune.
 
"I'm not going to take any trips outside the Notre Dame trip," the 6-foot, 189-pound Wood said last week. "I'm so committed to Notre Dame there's no reason to visit other schools."
 
The fact that Florida was one of the schools mentioned in the visit conversation had to be the most concerning, considering the recent history of Notre Dame commits who have flipped to the Gators.
 
Two years ago, New Jersey defensive end Justin Trattou committed to ND early in the recruiting cycle before changing his mind and signing with Urban Meyer. Last year, standout nose tackle Omar Hunter of Buford, Ga., picked the Irish following his junior year before switching to the Gators in January.
 
It wasn’t bad enough that the Irish lost the players to Florida, but they also lost them to Meyer, a former ND assistant who was believed to be a front-runner for the ND job when it came open after Tyrone Willingham was fired. Meyer instead took the Florida job and won a national title in just his second season.
 
Wood, who plays at Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, Calif., would appear ticketed for Notre Dame, but that won’t stop rival schools from pursuing him. He admitted in the espn.com interview that he was still getting recruited heavily after thinking it would slow down once he committed. Signing day is Feb. 4.
 
Loss to Michigan
Notre Dame may have won the war against Michigan with its 35-17 thumping of the Wolverines last Saturday, but Michigan won a smaller battle when it beat out the Irish for defensive end Anthony LaLota.
 
LaLota, a senior at The Hun School in Princeton, N.J., picked Michigan over a list of schools that included ND. LaLota’s teammate, nose tackle Tyler Stockton, committed to Notre Dame in April, the same weekend that the Irish landed Wood.
 
Eye on juniors
Weis and his staff appear to be well ahead of the pace they were on last year in terms of offering high school juniors. Last year at this time, Notre Dame had offered one junior – Youngstown, Ohio defensive tackle John Simon, who eventually committed to Ohio State.
 
This year, Notre Dame reportedly has offered close to 15 high school juniors, the headliner being St. Paul, Minn., offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson. Henderson plays at the same school, Cretin Derham Hall, as current Irish freshman Michael Floyd.

MORE FROM NOTRE DAME CENTRAL

Notre Dame Central Section Front

Walters: After Syracuse debacle, is Weis fit to coach ND? Syracuse rallies to demoralize Notre Dame Notre Dame players pelted by snowballs ND assistant reportedly to interview for Wash. job Hansen: Weis will continue calling plays Wieneke: Coaching carousel could help ND's recruiting Hansen: ND could be bound for Sun Bowl Walters: If Irish had lost, it would have been Weis' fault Walters: Weis' answers to critics should be alarming Notre Dame AD gives Weis vote of confidence Notre Dame Central Section Front   Add Notre Dame Central headlines to your news reader: