Notre Dame Notebook: Daelin Hayes To Miss Rest Of 2019; Likely Back In 2020
Senior drop end Daelin Hayes will be sidelined the remainder of the 2019 season, but his return as a medical redshirt and fifth-year senior in 2020 is “highly possible,” according to Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly.
Part of the deepest corps on the team at defensive end, Hayes graded out with high marks through the first three weeks in the rotation but suffered his injury in the first quarter of yesterday’s 35-20 victory versus Virginia.
Beginning last year, the NCAA passed a rule that now allows players to apply for a fifth season if they appeared in only four games (or less) at any point of the season. Yesterday’s game with the Cavaliers was the fourth for Notre Dame, which makes Hayes eligible to petition and return in 2020.
A former five-star recruit, Hayes was one of five defensive ends signed in the 2016 class with Julian Okwara, Khalid Kareem, Ade Ogundeji and Jamir Jones. All but Ogundeji were entering their final seasons of eligibility in 2019 (Ogundeji was redshirted as a freshman), and Kelly hinted in the preseason that Jones potentially could be redshirted so that he and Ogundeji could provide experience as fifth-year seniors at the position after Okwara, Kareem and Hayes graduate and head to the NFL.
Now, it appears the roles could be reversed: Jones could become the regular in the rotation while Hayes’ plan likely would be to return for a fifth season. Hayes has had multiple shoulder surgeries in the past, which helped hamper his high school career despite his lofty ranking.
In Hayes’ place, Jones instigated the top momentum-changing play of the game against Virginia.
With the Cavaliers leading 17-14 and facing third-and-10 at Notre Dame’s 38-yard line early in the third quarter, Jones tore around the edge and hit the arm of Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins as he was moving into his throwing motion, thus dislodging the football that Irish tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa caught and returned 48 yards to the Cavaliers’ 7-yard line. Two plays later Notre Dame went ahead 21-17.
Before he knew of Hayes' status on Sunday, Kelly said on Saturday the WIN — What's Important Now — approach will be in play.
"We are here to win this year, and we'll figure it out from there," he stated.
Shaun Crawford Out Three Or Four Weeks; Chase Claypool Recovering
Also injured in the contest was fifth-year senior cornerback/nickel Shaun Crawford, who had been shelved all of 2015 and 2018 with preseason ACL tears, plus the final 11 games of 2016 when he suffered an Achilles tear.
This time it was a gruesome dislocated left elbow, which in an odd sense was a form of relief considering his history. Kelly said on Tuesday afternoon that Crawford was projected to miss three or four weeks while in rehab. He was the sixth-leading tackler through the first three games plus recorded an interception, and against Virginia he added two more tackles plus one pass broken up.
Instead of automatically looking for another defensive back to fill Crawford’s void, Kelly instead is counting on 6-2, 216-pound rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to expand his starting role into more third downs. Koramoah currently leads the team in tackles (26) and is second in stops for lost yardage (4.5).
“He’s talented, he can play man to man, he can blitz off the edge,” Kelly said. “The first order of business is getting him into a position where he can take some of those reps on third down.
“Then we have to be able to get someone who can play in some more specialized defensive structures (nickel, dime, etc.), and that will be one that we haven’t decided on who that next person will be. A bulk of that work can come from Jeremiah Owusu.”
Leading receiver Chase Claypool also hobbled off the field in the second half with a right ankle injury that Kelly said is not a high ankle injury. It’s not the same ankle that required surgery after this spring.
“It should not affect him this week in practice,” Kelly said.
Moving Forward
When asked what he believes are the team’s top strength and concerns through the first one-third of the regular season, Kelly did not evaluate by position but in mental framework, including a greediness to excel.
“Guys play extremely hard and physical, and that’s a great place to start,” he said. “They’re a confident group of football players — but we can get sloppy. We have to continue to work on our attention to detail, the techniques … that’s the weakness of this entire group.”
Detail also includes senior quarterback Ian Book trusting what he sees and is getting taught. Book began the first quarter 8 of 8 for 68 yards against Virginia but was 9 of 17 for 97 yards thereafter.
“Needs to be more decisive,” Kelly said of Book. “There are some plays out there he knows he sees after the fact. Once he gets to that level I think we’re going to be in pretty good shape.”
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