Notre Dame's Nick Coleman Battling For Left Corner Spot

SOUTH BEND — The other half of Notre Dame’s position battle at left cornerback played just 44 snaps as a freshman in 2015, finishing the season with five tackles and two pass breakups in a reserve role.

Despite his inexperience, Nick Coleman has his sights set on starting the Sept. 4 opener at Texas.

Following the departure of KeiVarae Russell to the NFL, Coleman is now competing for the vacated left corner spot, playing time that is up for grabs after junior Nick Watkins underwent a second surgery on his arm, a procedure that coach Brian Kelly said will take four weeks to recover from.

“My mindset, even before Nick went down, was to be the corner out there,” Coleman said after Thursday’s practice. “Honestly nothing really has changed. Just a few more bodies that are out, which just means a few more reps for the younger guys to get in.”

He'll have to beat fellow sophomore Shaun Crawford for the job. Crawford is also contending for time at the nickel position. Senior Cole Luke is expected to start at the right corner spot.

Coleman starred as a two-way player at Kettering (Ohio) Archbishop Alter High School — and was teammates with current Irish quarterback Malik Zaire — where he had 48 tackles and three interceptions as senior while rushing for 1,125 yards and 13 touchdowns as a running back.

The son of former Notre Dame running back Trey Coleman, Nick Coleman was a consensus three-star prospect. And though he lacked the fanfare of his main competitor — Crawford is the highest-rated cornerback recruit by Rivals.com in the Kelly era —

“At the end of the season last year I kind of took the mindset of I’m just going to do my best and be out there and compete for that starting spot,” Coleman said. “That was really my mindset all summer, it’s been my mindset since the end of the season last year and it’s still my mindset.”

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Coleman said while his speed wasn’t a problem as a freshman, the physicality of the college game was an adjustment.

“I feel like I could run with a lot of guys but I just didn’t have that physical part of the game that I feel like I’ve got a little more this year,” Coleman said.

And entering his second season in South Bend, Coleman said his maturity level has improved in all aspects.

Mental lapses, he said, were common, causing the Dayton, Ohio, native to fall behind.

“Last year as a young freshmen it was real easy to get distracted,” Coleman said. “Think about your homework, think about personal life or whatever. I’ve done a better job this year of maintaining my level of focus and that’s helped my game in pretty much every phase.”

While he didn’t see too much action in 2015, being involved and not redshirting helped Coleman prepare himself for his sophomore year.

“Coach (Brian) VanGorder, his scheme is one that you have to just invest a lot of time in,” Coleman said of the Irish defensive coordinator. “If you’re not playing, you’re not really fully invested in it. That year last year really helped me to get a lot more reps, more focus and understand what’s going on.

“I felt like it helped me get all the little idiosyncrasies down. A year playing is going to give you more confidence, more experience. You know what’s going to happen, you have a feeling of what our offense is going to do and you know the defense better.”

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