Notre Dame’s cornerback rotation is becoming clearer.
Junior Cam Hart is the starting boundary corner. Sophomore Clarence Lewis is opposite him on the field side. Senior TaRiq Bracy is the favorite to be the slot corner. Sophomore Ramon Henderson will back up multiple spots and appears to be first in line if one of those three were injured.
It has been heading that way since spring. Unlike last year’s camp, there was no intrepid freshman disruptor like Lewis, who arrived in June, worked his way onto the two-deep for the opener and eventually started six games.
Kelly has, though, still likes the progress he has seen from the corners further down the depth chart. Asked for biggest August riser, he named both freshman Ryan Barnes and sophomore Caleb Offord.
“I talked about the guys here in the spring who made pretty good progress, and I don’t believe I talked about either one of them,” Kelly said Wednesday.
Barnes and Offord have worked with the second- and third-teams this month and, barring injury, might be a year away from finding an opening to push up from there. But Kelly has challenged them nonetheless. For example, he requested Barnes guard No. 1 receiver Kevin Austin Jr. for a play in Wednesday’s practice.
“Today I said, ‘Give me Barnes against Austin,’” Kelly said. “I want to see him.”
No matter the result — which Kelly did not divulge — it’s a sign of progress to earn any such chance.
“Barnes, Caleb Offord, those guys were not even ready for competitive reps within our own world,” Kelly said.
Now, Kelly has more faith in his backup corners if they’re needed as an injury replacement. Earlier in his Notre Dame tenure, that wasn’t always the case. The defensive coordinator would send in a reserve and Kelly would fight the desire to cover his eyes, he joked. He doesn’t feel he will need to avert his vision with this year’s group.
“I think we’re establishing pretty good depth at the cornerback position,” Kelly said.
The GLD Center
Notre Dame’s athletics department unveiled some key parts of its name, image and likeness initiatives this week.
Monday, it revealed the GLD (Grow. Lead. Do) Center, an on-campus resource for all its student-athletes that will help them “navigate personal development needs in the new era of name, image and likeness.” It’s not designed to be a vehicle for players to find NIL deals, or even a branding center, Notre Dame stated in the video announcing it.
“What we’ve done is put together a fairly comprehensive plan as it relates to how we’re going to move forward with name, image and likeness from an educational standpoint,” Kelly said.
From a business standpoint, Notre Dame has taken steps too.
Kelly said Wednesday Notre Dame has partnered with INFLCR (pronounced like “influencer”), an app that helps players grow social media visibility and has partnerships with companies that focus on creating athlete revenue opportunities. INFLCR’s website boasts several other major college athletic departments as partners.
“That’s all part of understanding some of the things that need to go along with the education process,” Kelly said.
Notre Dame’s football players have been the most active in securing NIL opportunities among the Irish athletic programs, unsurprisingly. The football program is a highly visible entity with popular players who are attractive to companies looking to partner with college athletes. The football team has not, though, been the driving force in determining how the school has approached its NIL strategy and how it can help athletes navigate it.
“I think we feel confident there has been such a wide body of representation across the athletic department, from all sports and administrators,” Kelly said. “There’s a really good consensus on the direction we’re going.”
Other Notes
• Running backs coach Lance Taylor served as the play caller and offensive coordinator while Tommy Rees sat out Tuesday after an appendectomy. Rees returned to work Wednesday.
• Graduate student nose tackle Kurt Hinish was in street clothes for Wednesday’s practice and remains in the concussion protocol. He did not practice Tuesday either. Kelly said Hinish expected to return to non-contact work Thursday. Senior wide receiver Braden Lenzy has a shoulder strain and is expected to “be 100 percent in the next day or two.”
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