Notre Dame Football: Loss of Amir Carlisle This Spring Is Not Too Daunting

Notre Dame football fans got a bit of good news last week, only to have their spirits dampened a little as the Irish would lose the newly cleared Amir Carlisle for the spring with a broken ankle.

From Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune:

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Amir Carlisle suffered broken ankle in voluntary 7-on-7, out for spring. #NotreDame RB/#USC transfer will be ready by June.

— Brian Hamilton (@ChiTribHamilton) March 20, 2012

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That's a tough, but not crippling loss for the Fighting Irish as they get set to enter the 2012 spring season tomorrow.

Carlisle, the USC transfer, was expected to get in and compete for minutes in Brian Kelly's offense immediately. Unfortunately, with the break suffered in a "voluntary" 7-on-7 session, Notre Dame will have to wait to see what the running back can do.

So the waiting will continue for the highly touted running back out of Sunnyvale, California—but the Irish have no need to panic.

Cierre Wood, the current starter at the running back position is set to make it two straight 1,000 yard seasons. While a spring with Wood and Carlisle would have helped the duo get up to speed, the truth is, Carlisle sitting out is not a tremendous loss for the spring.

Without the USC transfer, Theo Riddick, George Atkinson III and Cam McDaniel will see more reps this spring.

Increased reps for those three inexperienced players is a positive—the trio totaled only 26 carries combined a season ago. Wood is a known commodity in South Bend, and while Carlisle was expected to compete for time early, his absence will increase reps of the other three backs in an effort to establish other options.

In the end, Irish fans will emerge from spring with Wood as their go to guy, and a Riddick-Atkinson-McDaniel trio that's fallen into their own pecking order.

In the mean time, Carlisle will be working to get healthy enough to participate in team activities over the summer in South Bend.