Notre Dame August 20 Scrimmage: Notebook
After training camp concluded Sunday afternoon with a scrimmage that was open to the public at Notre Dame Stadium, head coach Brian Kelly made several personnel announcements to the media afterward.
• Special teams coordinator Brian Polian has been named the recruiting coordinator, a title held the last two years by defensive line coach Mike Elston, who has been promoted to assistant head coach.
In his first stint at Notre Dame from 2005-09 under head coach Charlie Weis, Polian earned a reputation as one of the nation’s most indefatigable and productive recruiters in the country, highlighted by landing National Defensive Player of the Year Manti Te’o from Hawaii.
That stature continued for Polian with stints at Stanford under Jim Harbaugh and Kevin Sumlin at Texas A&M before getting named the head coach at Nevada in 2013.
His work also helped Notre Dame recover from a recruiting class that had fallen to 14 commits with little promise last December to a top-15 ranking nationally despite coming off a 4-8 record.
• Elston is the lone holdover from Kelly’s original staff hired at Notre Dame in 2010. He has been with the Irish head coach 14 consecutive years, beginning with Central Michigan University in 2004. During that time he has coached special teams, tight ends, linebackers and defensive line, in addition to holding the recruiting coordinator title at both Cincinnati and Notre Dame.
“[He] will assist me day to day in all facets of program,” Kelly said of Elston. “In my absence he would speak in my behalf. Mike will work with Brian in the transition [as recruiting coordinator].”
• Officially hired as director of scouting is Bill Rees, the father of Notre Dame quarterbacks coach and 2010-13 Fighting Irish QB Tommy Rees.
The elder Rees was one of the nation’s most renowned recruiting coordinators from 1979-94 while at UCLA before embarking on a 16-year career as a scout in the NFL.
His most recent stint was at Wake Forest, where he worked with current Irish defensive coordinator Mike Elko and linebackers coach Clark Lea, both in their first seasons.
• Finally, junior running back Josh Adams was added to the captain’s list after a meeting with Kelly on Sunday.
The Irish already had a school record six captains this season with senior linebackers Nyles Morgan, Greer Martini and Drue Tranquill, plus fellow seniors Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson along the offensive line and former walk-on and senior receiver Austin Webster, who was awarded a scholarship earlier this month.
Since January, new strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis has singled out Adams as a mainstay not only in work ethic and production but in the way he brings others up to maximize their skills and attitude.
Adams also is the first Notre Dame back ever to eclipse 800 yards rushing in each of his first two seasons, finishing with a freshman school record 835 in a 2015 and a team high 933 last year.
“He has been outstanding in our summer workouts and distinguished himself with all the traits we're looking for,” Kelly said.
Freshmen Off The Bubble
Early entrants Brock Wright at tight end and Isaiah Robertson at safety made enough of a positive impression in the spring to earn playing time this season in niche roles.
On Sunday, Kelly revealed several other freshmen who had been “on the bubble” with regard to playing in 2017 but who are now in the mix either because of need or performance, if not both.
On offense they included receiver Michael Young (also challenging for the punt return role, if not kickoffs) and tight end Cole Kmet.
Defensively, tackles Kurt Hinish and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, who had been working with the second unit by the first week, are expected to be in the rotation, as is safety Jordan Genmark-Heath, who has also been a factor on special teams.
Camp Summary
There is no such thing as any college football team coming out of training camp as a finished product, but Kelly believes that in the past three weeks at least some identity was carved.
“I think we’re going to be a team that runs the football, can play fast and can push the ball vertically … Great versatility offensively,” he said.
“Defensively, we’re going to play so much better up front, and that really makes you feel pretty good. Better against the run, better fundamentally across the board, and our kicking game is going to be better.
“So when you put all those things together, I think we’re going to continue to get better each and every week, and we’ll see if that’s good enough.
“I think we’re like any other college football team right now — we just need to keep at it and the little things.”
Receiving Options
Notre Dame has 12 receivers on scholarship, but in game situations it's usually challenging to rotate more than six, although Kelly isn’t ruling out having more.
It’s a free-for-all beyond junior Eqaunimeous St. Brown, last year’s top target. Arizona State graduate transfer Cameron Smith, who played for first-year coordinator Chip Long and receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander, joined him as the starter Sunday in a two-back set.
“We’ve got really good depth,” said Kelly of the receivers. “We’re going to play a lot of them, they can all contribute in some fashion. I think we’ve got a marquee player in EQ, and then we’ve got a bunch of solid football players that will all contribute.”
Who the third, fourth, fifth receivers will be remains fluid. Sophomore Chase Claypool, a mainstay on special teams, might be knocking on the door with his 6-4, 225-pound frame.
“We’ve been looking for him to kind of step up and be a little bit more consistent,” Kelly said. “We’re pushing Chase … he wants us to stay on him and he’s learning and developing the traits.”
Miscellaneous Notes
• There will be a light practice on Monday and then none on Tuesday — the first day of classes for fall semester, or when Kelly said the minds of his student-athletes are “scattered.”
Preparation for the Sept. 2 opener against Temple begins Wednesday.
• Playing inside the Stadium in front of a crowd on Sunday whetted the appetites for the players, per Kelly, but the upgrade all around in the surroundings is what especially has been edifying.
“Like anything else, when you have an environment that’s done the right way and classy, it feeds on how you feel about yourself,” Kelly said. “And that environmental factor is big.”
• Kelly has opted to no longer cast a vote in the coaches’ poll, and was noncommittal when asked whether he believes Notre Dame deserves to be in the top 25.
“I took myself off that because I hadn’t felt I could spend truly enough time really deciding who deserves to be in the top 25,” he said. “I’m out of that business. I think it’s really hard for you to critique your team and determine whether they’re a top 25 team. You’ve just got to worry about how you prepare and that’s kind of what I’ve done since January. So my focus has really been less on how other teams look.”
• The sophomore defensive end quartet of Daelin Hayes, Julian Okwara, Khalid Kareem and Ade Ogundeji received huge praise from Kelly for their progress.
Hayes has star potential as a pass rusher, but it’s his meticulous work ethic that is especially captivating.
“When he walks into our building, he counts the footsteps to the training room,” Kelly said. “He’s that intentional in everything he does.”
Okwara had a couple of sacks in the scrimmage, while Kareem also added one and Ogundeji broke up a third down pass.
Kareem has been one of the most improved players, per Kelly, and Ogundeji is a favorite of Balis because of his work ethic and how he has transformed himself physically.
Look for more on the sophomore defensive ends in an extensive analysis by Blueandgold.com’s Bryan Driskell.
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