Brian Kelly Discusses His Contingent Of Former Players On The Chargers
The NFL Draft trend known as Notre Dame Du LAC added some more steam last month.
After April’s draft, the Los Angeles Chargers can now field half a defense with former Notre Dame players they drafted or signed the last two offseasons.
“I wish I had tickets to some of the games to go watch them play,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly told Chargers.com. “We’re excited for them, no doubt.”
He has plenty of ex-players who he can turn to for a request.
The Notre Dame contingent in Los Angeles already included defensive lineman Jerry Tillery, last year’s first-round pick, 2019 fourth-round linebacker Drue Tranquill and 2017 seventh-rounder Isaac Rochell. It doubled last month. The team added safety Alohi Gilman by using a sixth-round pick on and signed former Irish cornerback Donte Vaughn and linebacker Asmar Bilal as rookie free agents.
Those three now-veteran players all had roles, or some expectation of them, in 2019. Their new old teammates will try and join them, though the process for proving themselves may be shortened with COVID-19 putting the start of offseason workouts and training camps up in the air. With Gilman, the Chargers already see an impact special-teams player who they aren’t ruling out becoming a defensive contributor.
“It’s passion you’ll see on and off the field,” Kelly said of Gilman. “He’ll be active in the community. Some people are made to play the game of football. God made him to play the game of football. His personality rubs off on everybody.”
If Gilman’s career path takes an accelerated course, he may end up like Tranquill, who began the year on special teams and ended it as a defensive starter. He blocked two punts and tied for eighth in the NFL in special teams tackles. He had three tackles for loss in a game against the Denver Broncos Dec. 2 and played every defensive snap of a loss to the Oakland Raiders Dec. 22.
“We’ve see him overcome so much,” Kelly said. “Two ACLs, being told he wasn’t good enough. He’s that guy who has such grit and determination, such a core belief system that he’s going to be successful. We’ve seen that in a short period of time.”
His former defensive coordinator, Clark Lea, gave a gushing evaluation and projection after the 2019 draft that came true a year later.
“He’s just wired differently,” Lea said. “He’s just different than any player I’ve ever coached. He is a machine when it comes to his work ethic. … I fully expect Drue to thrive. He’s going to contribute, he’s going to add to the fabric of the team and he has the skill set to play.
“He’s got the skill set to be an NFL starter and he won’t stop, won't relent until he’s accomplished that.”
Tranquill outshined Tillery, whose rookie season began with him pegged as a likely starter on the defensive line and wound down with a healthy scratch in a December game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tillery ended the year having played just more than a third of the team’s defensive snaps and registering two sacks. He was Pro Football Focus’ lowest-graded defensive tackle.
“One thing Jerry has is self-awareness,” Kelly said. “He’s aware of his situation and knows he didn’t perform at the level of expectations set for him. He’s never been a guy to make excuses. I’m confident he will deliver in his second year.”
Next to Tillery, Rochell continued to carve out a role as a rotational player. He has seven sacks through three seasons and has played all 16 games each of the last two years.
“Always someone you could trust,” Kelly said. “He’s developed himself. He had to earn his way.”
As a sixth-round pick or an undrafted free agent, Gilman, Bilal and Vaughn have to earn they 53-man roster spot as well. They will not enter training camp as roster locks who can get a spot no matter how camp goes. Not that Kelly is worried they’d struggle to push themselves.
In addition to the work habits and personality traits, Kelly has noticed a theme among his six former players now in Los Angeles that has helped the prior three stick on the team and helped make Gilman an attractive draft pick.
“If you notice one thing about the [Notre Dame] guys who have been drafted, [director of college scouting] Kevin Kelly does a great job of assessing the versatility of the players,” Kelly said. “There’s definitely a plan in taking them because they have great versatility and can stretch your roster if they do make the team.”
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_MikeSinger, @PatrickEngel_, @ToddBurlage and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.