Lou's Confessions: Veteran Presence Vital At Notre Dame Camp

When training camp opens in college football, as it did this Sunday for Notre Dame, there invariably among any fan base is going to be foremost a curiosity about fresh faces or the “new toys” in the lineup.

Which freshman is going to help make a difference? Are any of last year’s freshman who were redshirted going to come out of nowhere to make an impact? Who is the untapped but rising talent who could steal a starting spot or play extensively?

It is human nature to always be far more intrigued about the new.

When head coach Brian Kelly commented last Friday that freshman linebacker J.D. Bertrand appears physically advanced enough to be “in the mix” at the wide open inside linebacker spots, instantly it generated headlines.

When freshman safety Kyle Hamilton was in the right place at the right time in basic 1 on 1, 7 on 7 or non-padded team drills on Sunday to pick off three passes, two of them tipped, media reported exploded that a star is born.