Notre Dame Football: How the Irish Move on Without Joe Schmidt

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — When Notre Dame football races into the warm sunshine Saturday to face Arizona State, the Irish will take the field without leading tackler Joe Schmidt.

As the “Mike” linebacker in defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder’s scheme, Schmidt has been indispensable, someone the Irish haven’t been able to take off the field since spring practice. So what does Notre Dame’s defense do now, devoid of its central nervous system?

“Everybody will pick up the slack there for the loss of Joe,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said Tuesday.

Joe Raymond/Associated Press

While Schmidt’s 65 tackles pace the Irish, his role as a communicator pulling the strings at the center of the defense is even more valuable.

Irish junior defensive lineman and captain Sheldon Day called Schmidt “the quarterback of the defense.” In describing Schmidt’s duties, Day said Schmidt is delivering the play call, the formation and personnel so everyone is on the same page. If Day were to miss the call, he’d look back to Schmidt for backup.

Schmidt determines if the defensive front needs to be adjusted, and he’ll turn around in communication with the secondary and tinker with the coverage if need be.

“All those things are going on before the play has to be snapped, so he does a lot,” Day said.

“Joe was definitely the greatest communicator I’ve seen in a while,” Day added. “So it’s definitely everybody’s job to step up their role a little bit more to make sure everybody knows what they have to do on each and every play.”

Credit: 247Sports

Irish freshman linebacker Nyles Morgan climbs into the starting role vacated by Schmidt. Morgan was the No. 3 inside linebacker and the No. 53 overall player in the class of 2014, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. He tallied four tackles in relief of Schmidt last Saturday against Navy. Kelly said Morgan handled most of the communication this week and will make the calls Saturday against the Sun Devils.

“I’m confident,” Kelly said Thursday of Morgan. “He had a really good week, and he’s extremely confident in himself. He’s not gonna be perfect. Certainly, there’s gonna be a hiccup here or there. But he’s got a pretty good understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Morgan took charge from the first practice this week after Schmidt’s injury, Kelly said.

“There’s no doubt who’s the guy out there,” he added.

Kelly said Notre Dame has not simplified its defense because of Morgan, noting the Irish can’t play “vanilla” against the Arizona State offense.

“We would not have gone down this road unless we thought Nyles was capable of doing the job,” Kelly said. “We have great confidence. He’s extremely confident in his ability, and that’s the game-changer.”

Kelly recounted his memories of Morgan in training camp, where the linebacker meeting room was positioned right next to Kelly in the quarterback room. VanGorder would regularly chew out Morgan for his mistakes on the practice field.

“It would make most young men weep,” Kelly said. “But Nyles would come back the next day with a smile, wanting more, and you just knew that this was one of those special kids that he just wanted to learn more football.”

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Morgan won’t be without help Saturday. Irish sophomore linebacker Jaylon Smith said Morgan will make the calls, but if anything is out of order, it’s up to Smith and Day to reset the defense.

“It puts a lot more on me,” Smith said of Schmidt’s injury. “But I’m up for the challenge and really just gotta understand it’s gonna be a different voice talking out there with the freshmen.”

Day said everyone on the defense has focused on communication this week, and he, Smith and safeties Max Redfield and Elijah Shumate have had to be more vocal.

“Everybody is making sure we understand what’s going on, the play call and making sure everybody’s on the same page,” Day said.

They’ll need to be Saturday to have a chance to knock off the No. 9 team in the country.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is a lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco on Twitter.