SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Among the reasons for Notre Dame’s pass-happy 2014 offense was the lack of a reliable No. 2 tight end to pair with Ben Koyack. While Everett Golson was a natural thrower and Brian Kelly’s profile is one of a coach who likes to have his team pass the ball, Notre Dame’s run game was to an extent muted by only deploying one tight end for most of the season.
That changed in the Music City Bowl, when Koyack, Durham Smythe and Tyler Luatua all played as the Irish battered a strong LSU defense for 263 rushing yards on 51 carries. While running the ball 50-plus times won’t necessarily be a weekly pillar of Kelly & Co.’s gameplan this fall, the sixth-year Irish coach hopes to be able to utilize multiple tight end sets that should help the Irish ground game.
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Notre Dame’s tight end picture hasn’t come into focus yet, but expect some combination of graduate student Chase Hounshell, junior Durham Smythe, sophomores Tyler Luatua and Nic Weishar and freshman Alize Jones to be on the field quite a bit when September rolls around. During Friday's first preseason camp practice, Smythe ran with the No. 1 offense while Luatua worked with the No. 2 unit during basic drills and seven-on-seven work.
“Defenses don't like two tight ends on the field,” Kelly said. “It messes up their situational substitution pattern. They just don't like it. You ask any defensive coach in America. They see two tight ends on the field, it cuts their call sheet down.
“So it's just more versatility to our offense when you can start to use two and maybe three tight end sets with some open sides to the formations too, because I can split out Durham Smythe and still have maybe two tight ends or three tight ends. I can split out Alize Jones and still have two tight ends or maybe three tight ends.”
Having multiple tight ends isn’t all about running the ball, but a lot of Notre Dame’s recent rushing success came with Tyler Eifert and Troy Niklas lining up in a two tight end set in 2012, or Niklas and Koyack teaming up a year later. With a read option whiz in Malik Zaire quarterbacking the offense and junior Tarean Folston being described by Kelly as a feature back, it’d make sense for the Irish to deploy two tight ends. Plus, if C.J. Prosise is in the backfield, he can always motion into the slot to create a mismatch with an opposing defense.
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“It just gives us more versatility,” Kelly said. “Then on the next play I can be in a power set formation and going — you know, you better not be in nickel. You've got to go out and cover Jones or you've got to go out and cover Smythe with a linebacker. So versatility is what it gives you.”