Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly's grand plan to build an impregnable defense to see Notre Dame become a national contender again is reflected in his first full recruiting class.

Notre Dame landed 23 recruits on Wednesday, with 14 of them on the defensive side, including lineman Stephon Tuitt and linebacker Ishaq Williams.

Williams and another outstanding defensive lineman Aaron Lynch are among five players already enrolled early at Notre Dame.

"You can't fake it on defense," Kelly explained to the press. "You can fake it a little bit on offense. But defensively, you know, you've got to win the one-on-one matchups. You've got to win those matchups,"

"You can't hide there. And so the recruiting efforts start with the defensive line, and they work out from there."

"We look for players that are committed to being here at Notre Dame to help us win a championship, not because I've got to play this position, I have to be here," Kelly added.