How Notre Dame plans to manage its linebackers’ workload down the stretch
Watch a college football team leave the practice field in early November, and you’ll see a common thread.
Cuts. Bumps. Bruises. Taped-up ankles or wrists. A brace here or there.
Those are just on the surface. There are bum knees, shoulders and legs that don’t look any different on the outside or force a player out of action, but linger like a gnat.
Notre Dame is no exception. Junior defensive end Isaiah Foskey won’t miss a game with a shoulder issue that briefly sidelined him in Notre Dame’s win over North Carolina, but it’s not disappearing in a day. Graduate student quarterback Jack Coan came into his media session following the North Carolina game with his hand taped.
“It’s really nothing,” Coan said. “I guess the trainers were just being cautious.”
Notre Dame’s coaches must be cautious as well with the amount of hitting in practice and player workload this time of year. Especially with their linebackers. The Irish can’t afford any more injuries to their shallowest defensive position. They also need their starters to make it through the season with enough tread on their tires.
The issue is squarely on head coach Brian Kelly’s radar. To keep them ready for stretch-run Saturdays, they require carefully planned load management from Sunday through Friday.
“They still have to run, you still have to get max velocity, you still have to give them a workload. But you can limit the contact,” Kelly said. “They still have to see it, still have to play fast. They can’t get over the top of a double-team, they can’t work downhill and do the things you need to do at that position if you’re in walkthrough. You just can’t be ready.
"They can play fast, but we limit their contact.”
Thanks to a two-week stretch right before the season, a practice injury or a fourth quarter with a starter running on fumes are worst-case scenarios for the linebacker unit. A trio of injuries during the final week of fall camp and the Week 1 game at Florida State wiped out its depth.
Marist Liufau, a seemingly inevitable breakout star after a strong camp, broke his lower leg in late August. Shayne Simon (labrum) and Paul Moala (Achilles) were lost for the season at Florida State.
All of a sudden, Notre Dame had just three middle linebackers left. Liufau’s injury ushered junior JD Bertrand into the starting lineup and an every-down role at Will linebacker. Drew White remains the Mike linebacker, with Bo Bauer spelling him in sub packages. Notre Dame moved freshman Prince Kollie from rover to inside linebacker, but he has not played on defense outside of two mop-up snaps versus Wisconsin.
No linebacker has more weight on his shoulders than Bertrand, who has played 513 defensive snaps. Only cornerback Clarence Lewis (557 snaps) has seen more action. The Irish don’t have a dependable No. 2 behind Bertrand. Eight games in, the workload is taking its toll, even as he remains among Notre Dame’s top tacklers each week and still leads the team with 71 stops.
A fourth-quarter drive in the 24-13 loss to Cincinnati Oct. 2 raised eyebrows. Bertrand missed a tackle, allowed a 36-yard catch in coverage and lost contain on Bearcats quarterback Desmond Ridder’s touchdown run that put the game out of reach.
It was something to monitor then. It has become a bit more concerning now.
Pro Football Focus tagged Bertrand with three missed tackles in the next three games. Two of them were in last week’s win over North Carolina. He has committed a personal foul penalty in two straight games. There have been too many moments where he has trailed in coverage.
Furthermore, his production outside of tackles has gone down of late. Bertrand made 10 “splash plays” (sacks, tackles for loss, passes broken up, interceptions, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, third- and fourth-down stops, and goal-line tackles) in Notre Dame’s first four games. He has one in the last four.
It’s hard not to wonder if that workload has taken a toll or if the sudden elevation after Liufau’s injury has been more of a challenge than it initially seemed.
In response, Notre Dame has scaled back his snap count the last two weeks. He played 47 and 49 snaps against USC and North Carolina, respectively. Bauer often replaced him in the dime defense. Junior rover Jack Kiser, who didn’t start either game because Notre Dame played a nickel base, played a series in his stead both weeks.
Keeping Bertrand in the high 40s or low 50s might be the ideal usage if Notre Dame wants to get him back to his early season and fall-camp peak form. It would be easier to accomplish if Kollie earned some work, but with each passing week, his involvement this year feels less likely.
“Each freshman, each young player has a journey that is unique to themselves,” Kelly said. “His one has taken some time. It does not mean in any way we’re down on him or he hasn’t lived up to expectations, all those crazy narratives about, ‘Why isn’t he starting?’ He has done well, but it has been smaller steps because there has been a transition for him.”
White and Bauer are an effective tandem and keep the other fresh. White has played the ninth-most snaps among Notre Dame defenders (355, or 44 per game) because he cedes work to Bauer in nickel and dime packages. A shoulder injury that nearly forced White to miss the North Carolina game, then, can’t be pinned on too heavy a game-day workload. It also does not sound like a long-term concern.
But it can reinforce the need for and importance of handling the linebackers with care over the final month of the regular season.
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