Drue Tranquill, one of six team captains for Notre Dame next season, will be one of the leaders tasked with overcoming the 4-8 finish in 2016.

How will Tranquill go about leading in 2017? He explained his tactics at the Echoes awards banquet this month.

“Any form of leadership starts with relationships with guys outside the locker room,” Tranquill said. “Getting to know my teammates on a deeper level, since I’ve done since I walked in the door here. Each guy has a story and each story matters.

“There’s a reason why each guy is here and there’s a reason why each guy plays the game and plays it the way that they do. If we can get to the core of that, we can be effective as leaders and effective as a team.”

Tranquill was a 2016 Academic All-American and started all 12 games for the Irish. He had a team-high 52 solo tackles and finished with 79 total tackles, second on the team.

Even in the brief offseason, he’s thought back on the 2016 season and how the Irish got in those poor situations.

“Looking over it, analyzing it, reflecting on what got us into places that we were in so we can avoid those next year,” Tranquill said.

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