Advertisement
football Edit

Notre Dame Backfield Stable Has Many Options Again

Running backs coach Autry Denson is emphasizing competition to challenge incumbent Josh Adams.
Running backs coach Autry Denson is emphasizing competition to challenge incumbent Josh Adams. (Photo By Bill Panzica)

Don’t miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball and recruiting coverage. Click here to get your 30-day free trial!

While carrying the ball 911 times (including bowl games) during his Notre Dame career from 1995-98, all-time Fighting Irish leading rusher and current third-year running back coach Autry Denson never worried about having too much “tread on the tires.”

He epitomizes old-school football in that the more the running back gets hit, the better rhythm he develops while becoming more effective.

“That’s what the weight room is for,” said Denson, dispelling popular notions about a running back wearing down. “We train to get stronger. You don’t train to get weaker. That’s what the off-season and the weight room is for.”

In the backfield for Lou Holtz and later Bob Davie, Denson developed a mentality of being indestructible.

“Everything was kind of between the hashes, so we got hit every day all the time,” Denson said. “It absolutely helps you. It’s a numbing factor. I understand safety and all of those things, but football is a physical game … my body just adjusts to what it feels like to carry weight, to get hit every different way. You need that — that’s a part of your preparation for the season.

“We can never be hit enough. You want to be tugged, you want to be pushed, you want to be punched — I hate when we don’t hit, I hate when we don’t ‘thud.’ My guys need it. They need to know what it’s like to squeeze the ball (the Irish running backs did not lose a fumble last year). I’m always hitting them myself.

“I beat them up in individual (drills), I want to make sure they are hit. I want to get them to that as soon as possible, and that’s the only way you can do that, by having them hitting, thudding, pulled and tugged. You don’t want that to happen (for the first time) when you line up against Temple.”

Denson was not necessarily known as a game-breaking back but as a consistently efficient one who embraced the game’s physicality and had the ability to run between the tackles or along the perimeter. He does not pigeonhole his backs as “speed guys” or “power guys,” or “blocking backs,” or “pass catchers.” They better excel in all areas to get on the field.

“You coach to your personality — it comes out in recruiting as well,” Denson said. “I am really not looking for guys to do one particular thing. I’m looking for guys that have either already shown they could do it when we recruit them, or I see where they have the ability for me to coach them up where they can contribute in the run game and pass game, run inside, run outside.

“I don’t want guys to be a one-trick pony. Those are not my kind of guys. I want them to be able to contribute in every facet of the game.”

Entering his junior season, Josh Adams’ 1,768 career yards rushing (6.4 yards per carry) are the fourth most ever by a Notre Dame back entering this point in his career (behind Denson, Allen Pinkett and Darius Walker), but he also has distinguished himself as a willing, competent blocker and capable pass receiver (21 catches, 193 yards and a score last year).

Adams also has been singled out by new strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis as an off-the-field leader with the mind-set of a Denson.

“That’s what you expect from a guy that’s been around in big-time situations,” said Denson of Adams. “You expect him to lead, and at the same time because of the culture in that [running back] room. Those other guys are pushing him. He can’t become complacent either.”

What Denson especially appreciates about Adams is how the player himself has publicly stated he “didn’t finish strong” during a 4-8 season — despite rushing for 100 yards on 13 carries in the 34-31 loss in the home finale versus Virginia Tech, and 180 yards on 17 attempts in the final game, a 45-27 setback to USC, which finished No. 3 nationally.

“We’re not going to look outward,” Denson said. “We’re going to look at ourselves and see what we can do better. What he was saying is he didn’t finish strong because he didn’t do enough. If he would have done enough — and that’s the way we all are — we would have won.”

After last year’s 38-35 loss at home to Duke on Sept. 24, head coach Brian Kelly lamented that reserve sophomore running back Dexter Williams was the lone player in the game for the Irish who displayed any signs of passion and grit, finishing that game with five carries and 24 yards, highlighted by a 13-yard scoring run.

Yet despite such praise, Williams carried the ball only 26 more times the final eight games, most notably a 59-yard touchdown scamper the next week in a victory versus Syracuse.

“Just keep doing what he’s doing,” replied Denson this week when asked what Williams needs to do to get more touches. “It’s a new year. The room is different. Now you don’t have Tarean (Folston) … he will have more opportunities.”

Then again, maybe not. During Saturday’s scrimmage, 5-11, 224-pound sophomore Tony Jones Jr., redshirted last year because of the crowded backfield, was the standout with runs of 50 and 47 yards, catching a short pass that he turned into a 40-plus-yard gain, and scoring the final TD against the No. 1 defense on a seven-yard pass on fourth-and-3.

When asked a day earlier if Jones was pushing Williams for the No. 2 spot, Denson was non-committal.

“They’re all pushing each other — they’re pushing Josh too,” Denson said. “Nobody is set … you have to come to work every day. I made that very clear. That’s the expectation. We don’t have a starter. We’re going out and we’re competing to see who’s going to be the guy that earns the most playing time.”

Early entrant C.J. Holmes also was vying for action this spring before a separated shoulder put him in a sling and will sideline him for the balance of spring. Denson was excited about how quickly Holmes adapted mentally to the college game and had adjusted away from home.

Sophomore speedster Deon McIntosh, who has been with the receivers despite being recruited as a running back, worked with Denson on Saturday as a contingency option in place of Holmes.

Under Denson, plenty of options always will be open in the backfield.

----

Talk about it inside Rockne's Roundtable

Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD,

@BGI_MattJones, @BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.

• Like us on Facebook

Advertisement