Greer Martini Wills Himself Into Starting Position At Notre Dame

Two of Notre Dame’s three starting linebacker positions were established this spring with senior James Onwualu returning at Sam and junior Nyles Morgan securing the middle (Mike) in place of the graduated Joe Schmidt.

This month, junior Greer Martini settled in as the heir to Butkus Award winner Jaylon Smith at Will — and in the meantime might well be the top backup at the other two spots.

Where there is a Will (or Sam, or Mike), Martini has found a way.

Last year he was a tag-team partner with Onwualu at Sam. Onwualu (501 snaps) was mainly a drop linebacker versus the pass, while Martini (314 snaps) was more of the physical presence against the run. He started in wins against triple-option teams Navy and Georgia Tech, and it was against those two teams he recorded nearly half of his tackles for the season (17 out of 35). He also made starts in place of the banged up Onwualu against the physical attacks of Boston College and Stanford.

While preparing for the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State, Martini tore a labrum in his shoulder, played sparingly with it and underwent surgery in January that didn’t allow for clearance into full practice mode until the middle of July. The other two candidates to take Smith’s spot were two sophomores. One of them was Te’von Coney, who also missed all of spring following winter shoulder surgery, and his 2016 season has been jeopardized by an off-campus arrest this weekend with four other teammates.

The other candidate was Asmar Bilal, who redshirted last season while learning the Sam position. With Coney and Martini both out during the spring, Bilal was shifted to Will and underwent a huge learning curve. Among the three, Martini already was declared the starter by head coach Brian Kelly during Wednesday’s media day (Aug. 17).

In third-year defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder’s assessment, Bilal possesses the best speed and explosive to the ball among the trio, but is in a huge learning phase. Coney is the best when closer to the line and versus a core running game. However, Martini’s knowledge of the defense to complement his skills gave him the edge overall.

“He’s played a lot of snaps for us, “VanGorder said. “He’s had to persevere through some tough times. He’s a much more confident player now … First two years not a real confident player, and I feel confidence with Greer now."

Interestingly, Martini didn’t actually start taking reps at Will in the base defense until the latter part of this week. Previously he had been taking them in the dime, speed or other sub packages, but said the Will and Sam slots are essentially similar on different sides of the field.

This month, Martini also has been taking reps behind Morgan at Mike in case of an emergency. The Mike is the quarterback of the defense, and even though Martini said it’s been the most difficult one of the three to learn, his football acumen combined with his skill sets to play inside or outside have given the coaching staff the assuredness to put more on his plate.

The first priority with him was to learn the Will position well enough to win the job — which he did even prior to Coney’s arrest.

“We don't want him to be a Jack-of-all-trades and master of none,” Kelly said of Martini. “We've given him enough work at Will that he can solidify that position first, which he has. And then that's what we started to move him around to Mike a little bit and a little bit at Sam, as well.”

No one will be expecting Martini to be Smith, but the belief is he doesn’t have to be. If each linebacker fulfills his duties with overall consistency, the collective group can be more productive.

“We’ve had playmakers in the past, but this year I think we’re more solid as an entire linebacker corps,” Martini said. “We all kind of complement each other. You’re not going to have some of those amazing plays that Jaylon was making last year and Joe his junior year, but I think overall we’re going to be in the right spot and we’re going to make a lot of plays together. I think this is going to be a better whole defense, and I don’t think there is going to be a weak spot at linebacker.”

His ability to work at all three spots is a testament to his work ethic to grasp VanGorder’s high volume playbook.

“It’s definitely difficult, and it took two years,” Martini said of getting to where he began to play with more aggressiveness. “I got yelled at a lot, that’s for sure, my first couple of years here, just because I didn’t have an understanding of it. You learn through those mistake and basically over the two years they’ve moved me around to all three, so I’ve had to be good at all three to get to this point.”

The arrivals of Morgan and Martini coincided with VanGorder’s, and both are eager for same payoff after dealing with his loud, hard and straight-to-the-point style.

“You kind of have to get used to his coaching methods,” Martini said. “There are different ways of going about it, but his coaching style has made me the player I am today.”

Wherever it requires him to line up.

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