Quick-Hitters: Brian Kelly Sept. 1 Press Conference
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly met with reporters via Zoom Tuesday afternoon less than two weeks away from the team's opener vs. Duke. Shortly before, kickoff times for several home games were announced. The Sept. 12 season opener versus the Blue Devils is a 2:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
Here are some of the highlights of Kelly’s press conference.
• Notre Dame held a scrimmage inside the stadium over the weekend.
"We ran close to 50 plays," Kelly said. "We wanted to get some real contact in. We had been behind relative to the contact area of things. It was important we caught up a little bit in terms of tackling and contact.”
• Kelly said sophomore Kyren Williams has emerged as the top running back.
“[He] has really emerged as someone we feel he has gained an advantage as the top back," Kelly said. "He’s going to require some assistance at that position from a number of other guys. We’re not going to feature one back. But Kyren has done a great job."
• Kelly announced two position switches to running back. Both are players who were freshmen last year and took a redshirt.
"We moved [former linebacker] Osita Ekwonu to running back, and he has given us a physical presence as well," Kelly said. "He’s a big, strong kid that can go in there and really mix it up for us. We moved [former wide receiver] Kendall Adbur-Rahman there. He has been a pleasant surprise for us with his ability to see things, hit the hole with some vision and break some big plays. Right now, we’re working about seven guys at the position.”
• Kelly said sixth-year senior Shaun Crawford has moved from cornerback to safety, freeing up a spot in the cornerback rotation for one of the six freshmen or sophomores to grab behind likely starters Nick McCloud and TaRiq Bracy.
"You’re talking about a lot of young players," Kelly said. "They’re all in a competitive situation. One of them is going to end up seeing some considerable playing time. We knew that was going to be the case. Shaun Crawford is playing a lot of safety for us. One of those freshman corners is going to have to step up.”
• Kelly hinted at the top group of receivers while Kevin Austin recovers from a foot injury that will keep him out until at least October.
“Once Kevin Austin went down, we wanted to find out what the best fits were for us," Kelly said. "I think we’ve settled into Avery [Davis] and Lawrence [Keys] in the slot. That’s a pretty consistent look for us. Braden [Lenzy] out on the perimeter.
"I think we have some flexibility with Javon McKinley where he can play out at the ‘X’ or he can go into the boundary. We moved Bennett [Skowronek] to the boundary. That’s a pretty set situation. It’s fluid when it comes to moving some other guys around to positions where they can help us."
• Kelly called the difference between safety Kyle Hamilton “night and day,” mainly referring to his physical development and leadership ability.
"He was a freshman who was emerging and certainly made a big splash early on," Kelly said. "He’s physically much more mature. He has a presence about him. He has exhibited leadership qualities already. I would say night and day. That would be the best way to describe Kyle Hamilton.
"Does that mean he’s going to be that much better a football player? I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. He certainly shows up in scrimmages and in seven-on-seven. Off the field, he’s stronger and he has a presence about him in our program.”
• Kelly said the uptick in COVID-19 cases on campus that caused in-person classes to pause for two weeks was another wake-up call for the players, even though they had demonstrated a commitment to adhering to the rules before.
“They took it serious from the first day they stepped on campus," Kelly said. "I think they became much more aware of the things that can put them out of practice. We all know you can get the virus. But being a close contact and not being sick and being out, in some instances longer than someone who could have the virus, is a wake-up call in terms of who you’re around and how you handle yourself.
"I think what they learned more than anything else is how to navigate through a pandemic and if you want to play football, these are the precautions you need to take on day-to-day basis. When the students came to campus, it heightened their awareness because they became more vulnerable to being in a COVID situation or being a close contact.”
• Kelly feels Notre Dame Stadium will provide some kind of advantage even with capacity capped at 20 percent.
“You still have to get on a plane, still have to come to South Bend, still have to come to our stadium regardless of if there are 79,000 or 18,000," Kelly said. "Our students are going to provide that. What they don’t provide, we’re going to make sure everyone is reminded what that stadium sounds like when Notre Dame is full. There are many, many games that have been played in there where we have provided a home-field advantage.
"I’m pretty confident we’re going to be able to put together an exciting atmosphere. It’s still going to come down to our players and execution. In a large degree, they’re going to create that.”
• Kelly thinks losing two or three practices in a week due to COVID-19 concerns would make proper preparation for that week’s game difficult if not impossible.
"If you’re out of business Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, you’re in trouble for having a team that can practice and being prepared," Kelly said. "That would require you to have not assembled your group in a manner that would mean you’ve knocked out everybody.
"We’ve been in a number of situations where we don’t believe there is going to be heavy transmission on the field. So that’s assuming a lot of things go wrong. If they do, my answer is if you lose two or three days early in the week, you’re hard-pressed to get your team ready.”
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