Saturday morning, Notre Dame’s practice was open to visiting coaches and local media. That means a slew of reports coming in and one guy (me) to read everything and give you some interesting observations.
While I wasn’t in South Bend for a two hour window into spring installation, consider this a trip around the horn as we piece together interesting insights and observations from the Irish’s fifth spring practice.
Here’s your bonus Saturday six pack after an open spring practice.
1. John Turner is no longer a forgotten man.
I’m resisting the urge to turn him into a spring star, if only because we’ve had breakout spring sensations turn into pumpkins before. (Remember when Kona Schwenke had overtaken Louis Nix for the starting nose guard job?)
But Turner has clearly found a niche in Brian VanGorder’s defense, and the rising junior seems to be taking advantage of his opportunities.
“He’s been given a great opportunity here. We all knew about his physical ability. Now he’s been given a chance that is an incredible opportunity,” Brian Kelly said after practice Saturday. “We knew he had the ability to do it. Now he’s been given the chance to do it. I don’t know if he really had the chance last year, to be quite honest with you.”
After struggling to build a personnel package that allowed the Irish to match up well in nickel and dime sets early in his time in South Bend, just about every viewing window into practice has shown the Irish playing from various sub-packages. With a lot of talented players in the back end of the defense, Turner looks like he’s filling a role as a nickel linebacker with coverage skills and the ability to tackle.
Converted wide receiver James Onwualu spent quite a bit of practice there as well.
2. Amir Carlisle has recaptured his mojo.
One look at the latest UND.com practice report gives you an idea of Amir Carlisle’s resurgence after a tough 2013 season. Spending his time exclusively at the slot receiver position, Carlisle was a reliable target, making multiple tough catches in traffic and being utilized in the passing game.
Kelly talked about the step forward Carlisle’s taken now that he’s plugged in at the slot.
“He’s just kind of going through the process of finding a home in a sense,” Kelly said. “Last year he didn’t really get into a rhythm offensively at running back, and then he’s playing a little bit of slash slot.
“Now he’s playing full-time at the receiver position. I think he’s getting into a consistent role. I think that’s very, very important for him. It’s helping a lot.”
Carlisle broke his collarbone early last spring, shortening his developmental process in the Irish offense. Getting all 15 practices this spring will really help him focus on the nuances of the position while building a rapport with his quarterbacks.
We’re still a long way from the last day of August. But Carlisle is a really talented football player who might now be playing the right position for him.
3. Everett Golson still has a little rust on him.
It’s hard for some Irish fans to remember, but in the last three years Everett Golson has only played in 12 football games. Twelve? Twelve. (And three of those, he failed to break the 50 percent marker in passing accuracy.)
So while everybody expected Golson to immediately be the tonic that solved the Irish’s offensive struggles, it’s going to take more than five practices for Golson to get on the same page with a rebuilt offense.
“I don’t think he’s feeling comfortable yet. I think he’s still trying to find that,” Kelly said. “He doesn’t have any of the guys. He doesn’t have TJ. Daniels isn’t here. All the guys that he had a little bit of that timing with, he’s working with all new guys. He doesn’t have any of that. It’s really like he’s working with a whole new cast of characters in that sense.”
The early reviews from Saturday’s open practice called Golson more steady than spectacular. But any sense that the rebuilding defense would be overwhelmed by a high-powered offense this spring hasn’t happened yet, as the timing has been off and the offense is far from hitting on all cylinders.
4. Even though Golson will win the starting job, Malik Zaire could have an important role in this offense.
One of the biggest surprises of spring camp seems to be the athleticism of Malik Zaire. Put candidly, he’s a far more dynamic athlete in the open field than Golson. That shocks a lot of people, and could give Kelly and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock another fancy car in the garage as they start to game plan for next season.
After all the grumbling about patching together the offense with multiple quarterbacks, Tim Prister of Irish Illustrated asked Kelly after practice Saturday if he’d be comfortable doing it again in 2014. The answer shouldn’t surprise you.
“I’ll do anything to win. If I felt like when we got to August, that is where we were, I’m all in,” Kelly said. “I can handle that. I think the ideal situation is one, but (Zaire) definitely has shown in himself to be ready to compete in some of those areas that you mentioned. I want to see him compete in all those areas. That’s a really good thing.”
5. Don’t expect Christian Lombard’s injury to cost him a starting job.
After some speculation across the interwebs had Christian Lombard’s wrist injury a potential Wally Pipp situation, Kelly threw some cold water on that Saturday afternoon, all but assuring his return to the starting lineup at right guard.
“I would think he’d be really hard to beat out. He’s such a veteran, a senior,” Kelly said. “It just puts Harry (Hiestand) back to nine guys again, which he’s used to, unfortunately. Just makes us thinner at offensive line. You’d be hard-pressed to get a guy to unseat Lombard in there, he’s such a tough guy.”
While Conor Hanratty will do a solid job filling in to finish spring practice for Lombard and Matt Hegarty is doing the same at center for Nick Martin, it appears that the offensive line is coming together.
Ronnie Stanley, LT
Steve Elmer, LG
Nick Martin, C
Christian Lombard, RG
Mike McGlinchey, RT
6. KeiVarae Russell expects the team to play a whole bunch of man coverage.
Notre Dame’s best cornerback was available to the media after practice and opened up about the difference in responsibilities for cornerbacks under Brian VanGorder. Put simply? There’s going to be a lot more man coverage.
BlueandGold.com’s Lou Somogyi caught up with the fast-talking cornerback, who sounded more than excited about the opportunity to play aggressively in VanGorder’s defense after mostly playing zone coverage under Bob Diaco.“Coach D, he wanted to keep everything in front because big plays really cause losing,” Russell told Blue & Gold. “In 2012 we played a lot of zone as well, but we didn’t give up any big plays. Last year, the games we lost … it’s always big plays that cost us.
“Coach D’s philosophy was great but we never could really cause many turnovers just because we weren’t really aggressive. This one, there will be a lot of turnovers caused … (VanGorder) wants you to cover every single route. Two-yard curl, he wants you on it. That’s his mind-set: Don’t give them anything.
“Coach Diaco, it was more, ‘Give them this, give them that, give them the five-yard out, because it won’t beat us.’ Coach Diaco believes that big plays cause losing, and Coach VanGorder is, ‘Whatever happens, happens. But we want you on it and go from there.’”
Most that have seen Cody Riggs play expect him to walk in and play immediately at corner or nickel back. Cole Luke has the ability to be a very good cover corner. While Devin Butler recovers from shoulder surgery, the Irish staff got great things out of him during his freshman season. Sprinkle in contributors like Matthias Farley and this is the deepest cornerback group I can remember in South Bend.