Stronger, More Physical Cornerback TaRiq Bracy Making All Kinds Of Noise
In a season that has revealed what’s different about him on the field, TaRiq Bracy’s first-ever media session was a reminder some things haven’t changed off it.
A quiet man by nature sat at a dais at Notre Dame’s practice facility earlier this month, staring into a camera, and spoke in muted tones and one or two-sentence sound bites. One had to lean in to the computer to comfortably hear him over Zoom.
“I don’t want to say he doesn’t like the spotlight, but he doesn’t go out looking for it," said Eric Ames, Bracy’s baseball coach at Milpitas (Calif.) High School in the Bay Area.
"I've always viewed him as this shy kid."
But …
"He pops out."
Maybe that level of monotony is just Bracy's nature, but his play this season sure reverberates. Bracy, now a junior cornerback for the Irish, is a full-time starter and centerpiece on yet another steely Notre Dame defense.
A mid-level three-star recruit and center fielder turned cornerback is no longer a developmental project. The words “complete” or “shutdown” can be thrown around when discussing him and met with agreement rather than cocked eyebrows.
Bracy is 10 pounds heavier than he was a year ago, up over 180 and more importantly, staying there. The fluidity, athleticism and speed he displayed playing outfield for Ames that Notre Dame liked enough to take as a long-term project is now supplemented by evident strength. His tackling contributions this year have impressed as much as his cover skills. He’s third on the team with 18 tackles, 2.0 for a loss, and three pass breakups.
The ability to hack it on the field wasn’t in question after a freshman season where he cracked the cornerback rotation and sophomore year splitting time at field corner opposite Troy Pride Jr. But Notre Dame needed him to become an every-down mainstay at a position that endured widespread offseason turnover. That started with adding weight and keeping it. More meals. More snacks. Workout tweaks.
“It was a problem for me to put on weight early on, but I got with the nutrition staff and [strength] coach [Matt] Balis,” Bracy said. “They really helped me put on the weight I need.”
Notre Dame’s games against Florida State and Louisville are one long highlight reel of how a bit more bulk improved everything. In both, Bracy either led or tied for the team lead in tackles, with 14 between the two games. He has allowed eight catches for 84 yards on 13 targets this season, but here’s the operative number: only 10 of the yards allowed have come after the catch.
Bracy has, with few exceptions, kept everything in front of him. That may lead to a few easy short completions, but with consistent tackling, zero room to run. Bracy breaks on the ball as if he’s propelled from a cannon and wraps up like a boa constrictor.
“He has taken nutrition seriously to the level where he’s holding his weight in the 182-183 range,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “Stronger in the weight room. Add all those things together and that’s what you’re seeing.”
An Intriguing Base
It wasn’t that Bracy had a physicality aversion before. He liked it, actually, says Milpitas football coach Kelly King. He could get in an opponent’s grill as a press corner and break a tackle at running back.
“He didn’t shy away from contact,” King said. “He could make you miss. And there were times he’d hit you.
“I don’t remember him missing a tackle.”
But that was high school. Notre Dame’s opponents are in a different stratosphere. And Bracy was aware Notre Dame liked him not as much for what he was then, but what he could become in time. He was also conscious of his generously listed 170-pound frame.
The Irish signed Bracy as part of a six-man defensive back class in 2018 that included top-50 recruit Houston Griffith and two other four-stars. They liked him because they thought the effortless fluidity and hip-flipping he displayed as a left-handed center fielder portended college football success as a corner. Add in that he was a shoo-in for two steals anytime he reached first base, and he had an intriguing starter kit.
“For baseball, we use the term, ‘Stay behind the ball,’” Ames said. “That keeps it from going over his head. He has a good instinct and good reads. His depth perception is good because he can see if the ball is going to go deep, or if he sees it’s going to be short he can come it and get it. Him getting those quick reads off the bat or off a thrown ball help him.”
It helped, and right away. He played 11 games as a freshman, and in 2019, posted a team-high seven pass breakups. Two of those denials came against Georgia and its crop of five-star receivers. He even ended his first two years with 52 total tackles. Pro Football Focus credited him with zero missed tackles.
Notre Dame wanted more, though. Bracy did too. His snaps were going to swell up. His frame needed to as well. Especially with new cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens’ emphasis on tackling and elimination of some backpedaling, where hip-flipping ability is critical. Bracy’s game needed to fit that style.
"The guy running forward usually beats the guy that backpedals,” Kelly said. “We’ve done away with a lot of backpedaling and we tackle, tackle and tackle. The emphasis on tackling Mike has brought has shown itself, and in particular with TaRiq.”
‘A Maturity Process’
Kelly even cites a specific play to highlight Bracy's progress. It came in run support against Florida State early in the second quarter, on a read-option handoff where 190-pound Seminoles running back La’Damian Webb spun around and reversed course when Notre Dame’s defensive line clogged all running lanes.
Bracy was the next line of defense in the open field. He stepped up, forced Webb to continue running sideways, engaged with him between the numbers and hash marks and threw him to the ground out of bounds for a six-yard loss.
“He probably would have went for a low tackle on that at the ankles last year,” Kelly said. “This year, he feels a lot more confident in his ability to physically neutralize a bigger opponent.”
The encore was a six-tackle game against Louisville where he twice corralled slippery Cardinals wide receiver Tutu Atwell to prevent any extra yards after four- and six-yard receptions. An overlooked part of being a shutdown corner is the ability to limit damage when there are receptions.
There’s a reliability Bracy seems to have. No one doubted his ability to cover, even against bigger players. Now, he’s a plus in run defense who can hold ground against running backs and is an asset in run support and in the open field. He’s the only member of that six-man 2018 secondary class who is a full-time starter.
Kelly, Mickens and defensive coordinator Clark Lea are obviously thrilled. They can point to him as an example of player development and talent recognition. Bodies by Balis can tout him as another satisfied client, as those who have seen him back home can attest. He’s not so lithe anymore.
“Especially around his neck area,” Ames said.
Added King: “That’s a maturity process. Your metabolism slows down, you get a little bit older. He has always been a muscular kid, just has a little more weight behind it now.”
That change has created all the noise Bracy desires to make.
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