Brian Kelly Sees All On Day 1 Of Spring Practice
The new Brian Kelly was pleased with Notre Dame’s first spring practice.
The Irish went through a non-padded workout inside the indoor facility Wednesday morning, and the eighth-year head coach gave his impressions afterwards.
“I liked our teaching I’m listening for good communication, I’m listening for guys that are really locked in with an attention to detail and really focused,” Kelly said after the two-hour workout. “By and large a lot of those things came to fruition today.”
As he said Tuesday at his pre-spring press conference, Kelly said he was less focused with the depth chart and position battles than he was on the finer details of the game.
Part of that included keeping tabs on the program’s new assistants, five in all. He watched new coordinators Mike Elko (defense) and Chip Long (offense) oversee their respective units and got around to see each position group.
“Overall generally speaking really liked the management of our defense and how it’s being taught in all aspects and really loved the tempo we were able to run at offensively today,” Kelly said. “You didn’t have the typical sloppiness and ball on the ground and guys not executing at a high level. Pleased with that on the first day.
“Today for me getting a sense and feel for, you lay down your expectations are and what you want your coaches to really focus on. We vetted these coaches out in the process and I wanted great communicators, great teachers, guys that are very positive. I was able to get around and see all the position groups and was really pleased with the way they interacted with the players and communicated effectively with them.
“I felt there was no lack of communication in an effective manner. It was a good day for me to get a sense of how our coaches are teaching and communicating with our players.”
Kelly got the tempo he wanted from the offense, without the sloppiness and poor ball security that can oftentimes occur on Day 1.
Whereas the 55-year-old Kelly would normally be focused on the offense — particularly with a new starter at quarterback — he said he left those duties up to Long.
The new Kelly has different priorities.
“Normally my priorities are to see that the offense is running the installation effectively, doing the things necessary that makes that offense run the way it’s supposed to,” Kelly said. “That’s not my priority right now. My priority is to make sure that our coaches are emphasizing the things that I want. Today was about evaluating personnel and where they are.”
Stay tuned to Blue & Gold Illustrated for more coverage of Notre Dame’s first spring practice.
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