Brian Kelly Wants The Irish To Play With A ‘Sense Of Urgency’ Versus Duke

Brian Kelly talked about playing with a sense of urgency, the defense, the running game and the matchup with Duke during his Tuesday press briefing.

Kelly’s third 1-2 start in his seven seasons at Notre Dame — he also began the 2010 and 2011 seasons with that mark — has been characterized by a lack of urgency. The Irish “compete unevenly,” he said Tuesday. His team plays in spurts. They do some really good things and then some really sloppy things.

“Obviously, a bad start to our season. Poor start, whatever way you want to characterize it,” Kelly said. “Three games into the season, nobody wants to be where we are, but we are 1-2. I’m a 1-2 coach and we’ve got to work to get better.

“There’s four quarters in the season, and the first quarter we did not get off to a good start. There is plenty of time for us to come out of this in a very, very positive way.”

Kelly was asked how he gets his team to play with a sense of urgency for four quarters, not just once they find themselves in a big hole. Realizing where the inconsistencies are and what the weaknesses are allows Notre Dame to go to work and fix the errors.

“Three weeks into it, it’s pretty clear that we have a group that will compete, there’s no quit in them, but they can’t turn it on and turn it off,” Kelly said. “We shouldn’t be waiting for the ebbs and flows of games to carry us.

“We should be the ones initiating the flows of the games. That is the makeup of this team right now that needs to change.”

As he’s previously said after defensive struggles, Kelly stood by his coordinator Brian VanGorder. His answer to how he’s handled defensive issues in the past: “Score more points,” Kelly said.

“I have to be able to know that everything in the program is being taught, being effectively communicated on a day-to-day basis,” Kelly said. “Physically, does that mean on the practice field I have to stand on the defensive practice field to get that done? No, it doesn’t mean that. What it means is that I have to be in defensive meetings, it means that I have to be aware of what the game plan is, it means that I have to know how we’re teaching things and communicating them, which I do.

“I don’t need a headset, I don’t need to be on the defensive side of the ball coaching tackling. I’m very confident that I have outstanding coaches to do that, but I’m the head coach and I’ve got to be certain that I know exactly what’s going on in all facets of my program. Offense, defense, special teams, recruiting, all of those things. From an optics standpoint, I don’t need to be standing on the defensive field to make sure that gets done.”

Kelly said he believes the defense will get better each and every week. Some of the mistakes that were made against MSU were fundamental errors that are correctable errors.

• On the team’s lack of a pass rush: “We all know if you bring pressure, you put pressure [on your own team],” Kelly said. “It’s measured by how much pressure do you want to put on your corners and safeties? We’re measuring that.”

• On his relationship with VanGorder: “Colleagues. We’re trying to find the best solutions to what we have. He’s coaching his butt off.”

After evaluating the offense against Michigan State, Kelly said the Irish had “pretty good” balance in the first half. They carved out the kind of running game — though inconsistent in their performance — that they wanted, Kelly noted.

On the offensive line, there was some movement up front by Michigan State’s defensive line that Notre Dame did not handle well. There were some pressures that could’ve been blocked better. But overall, Notre Dame’s 57 rushing yards were more a product of the situations in the second half, when the Irish had to abandon the run.

“I don’t stand here right now worried about our running game,” Kelly said. “I believe our running game’s going to be where it needs to be. We made some mistakes, and then never got in the committed run flow in the second half that we needed to because we got down so quickly.”

The offensive line was “physical as heck” against MSU. According to Kelly, junior left guard Quenton Nelson had his best game of the season, and he got back to playing physical football and it was fun to watch. Senior left tackle Mike McGlinchey needs to finish off some of his pass protections, but also did some good things.

As a group, the offensive line got a little sloppy, Kelly said. Some of the team’s easiest pass protections broke down, which comes back to having a sense of urgency. There were some unnecessary hits on junior quarterback DeShone Kizer, meaning the Irish need to hold their blocks longer.

Kelly touched on the matchup with Duke (1-2) briefly, noting that head coach David Cutcliffe’s team is “physical, tough, aggressive” on defense. The Blue Devils like to bring pressure, but they’re very stingy in what they do.

Duke quarterback Daniel Jones — who is starting because of an Achilles injury to Thomas Sirk — is one of the best freshman QBs in the country, Kelly said. He’s surrounded by an experienced team that has won 27 games from 2013-15, the same number of wins as the Irish in that span.

“They’ve got some guys that can certainly make some big plays on the offensive side of the ball,” Kelly said. “They’ve got 85 scholarship players, and all of them are seasoned players.”

The Blue Devils have Notre Dame’s attention, but the focus is on improving their own game, Kelly explained.

“For us, a lot of respect for Duke, but we’ve really got to clean up our game,” he added. “We’ve got to be able to play with that sense of urgency for four quarters against another really good opponent.”

• On freshman wide receiver Chase Claypool: “We’ve had some conversations as a staff as to finding a more expanded role for him. We’ve got to be careful of loading too much on him.”

• On his team leaders: “Leadership at this point takes on a role of accountability and responsibility. That is there, it’s clearly there. What we want to see more than anything else is that all of our players, when you get the game rolling and you get into the season, during the week accountability and responsibility is what I’m looking for from our seniors.”

• Kelly pointed out that Notre Dame is playing a freshman safety (Devin Studstill), a freshman nickel (Julian Love), a first-year starter at Will linebacker (sophomore Te’von Coney) and a first-year starter at one cornerback spot (sophomore Nick Coleman).

“I don’t know how much you can keep pushing that envelope in terms of how many first-year players you put out on the field against outstanding competition,” Kelly said.

• On senior cornerback Cole Luke, who struggled against MSU: “Cole’s a good player. He’s the smartest defensive player we have. He’s got to play with a sense of urgency.”

• Special teams have been a “mixed bag,” according to Kelly. “Doing some good things,” he said. “Got to clean up mistakes. Mistakes on special teams are causing us to really stub our toe.”

• Though the Irish went with sophomore Josh Adams primarily at running back, they’ll continue to platoon with him and senior Tarean Folston: “They’re both going to share a lot of carries the rest of the year,” Kelly said.

• Freshman defensive end Daelin Hayes played more snaps against MSU and will continue to have his role expanded. “He’s going to come along,” Kelly said. “You’re going to see more of him moving forward.”

• Notre Dame will do more thud tackling Tuesday than a usual week. Kelly said the problem with the team’s tackling has been a lack of control and not going “speed to power.”

“If we just put ourselves in front of the ball carrier and hang on for dear life,” he said, “they’re only going to get another yard or two.”

• Kizer and fifth-year senior defensive lineman Jarron Jones were singled out by Kelly as players who need to play with more urgency.

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