Notre Dame's Tarean Folston finished last season as the workhorse of the offense. The junior running back carried the ball a career-high 21 times for 73 yards and a touchdown against LSU in the Music City Bowl. He was the battering ram, and the man that got it done in between the tackles.

But while Folston looked every part of a No. 1 running back against an SEC defense, he claims that he' doesn't want a bulk of the carries next season. Instead, he believes that a running-back-by-committee approach might be the best option for the Irish again in 2015.

"I'm looking forward to just as many carries [as I got against LSU], but I'm also looking forward to [Greg Bryant] having just as many carries," Folston said. "I want a dual backfield, and possibly those freshman coming in getting some touches as well. I'm looking for a very strong running game this year, so we can get the backfield rolling and have a strong offense altogether."

The plea for a multi-back offense might sound odd coming from someone who ran for a team-high 889 yards last season, which was 600 more yards than Bryant's total that finished No. 2. Yet Folston's desire to split the workload is a product of what Notre Dame is trying to do on offense. The Irish want to play a smash-mouth brand of football — like it did against LSU — and according to Folston, rotating bodies in the backfield will allow the team to achieve that goal.

"All of our backs now are very physical and we run very well in between the tackles, so really that's what we do. We're running backs," Folston said. "The physicality is there."

Now it's just a matter of finding the right mix between him and Bryant, which wasn't exactly the case last season. Outside of the Syracuse game in week four when Bryant received 11 carries (55 yards) later in the game and Folston had nine (41 yards), the duo wasn't really featured in a rotation. Folston said he wasn't sure what happened, but he feels that the dynamics will change with new running backs coach Autry Denson in place.

Folston explained that Denson, who replaced the departed Tony Alford, has focused on the details in practice, and that's made a difference for both him and Bryant.

"He teaches the technical things and the little things, and he wants all the backs in the room to be polished," Folston said.

When asked if that meant Denson is more technically sound then Alford was in practice, Folston said he didn't want to go into detail.

"I'm not going to compare [the two]," Folston said. "It's two different coaches so you're going to get two different coaching styles. … It was very difficult [watching Alford leave for Ohio State], but it's the business — he had to do what he had to do and now it's just the next guy in."

Folston put on 14 pounds in the offseason and is now listed at 5-9½, 214 pounds. Bryant, who is also a junior, stands at 5-10, 205 pounds. The two are expected to be the one-two punch in the backfield, while senior wide receiver C.J. Prosise will provide depth after spending the past few weeks practicing at running back.

The more that can complement Folston in the 2015 backfield, the merrier Notre Dame's ground game, and total offense, should be.

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