Notre Dame Football: Complete 2015 Spring Practice Primer
Notre Dame begins spring practice Wednesday with something few thought possible last November: momentum.
The Irish were improbable winners over LSU in the Music City Bowl. Then the Irish won the offseason by getting potential first-round NFL draft pick Ronnie Stanley to return for his senior season along with veteran defensive tackle Sheldon Day.
Add in a talented 24-man recruiting class and the graduate transfer of Cal safety Avery Sebastian, and when the Irish take the field, Brian Kelly will have a team that should look more like the group that raced out to a 6-0 start in 2014 than the one that lost five of its final six regular-season contests.
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With a new coaching staff led by the addition of offensive coordinator Mike Sanford, and a quarterback battle between Everett Golson and Malik Zaire sure to take center stage, let's get you ready for spring practice.
What to Watch on Offense
We can talk about changes along the offensive line or the depth chart at tight end, but all eyes will be on Golson and Zaire, the two Irish quarterbacks who will be working with Sanford for the first time.
Serving as both the new coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Sanford will demand perfection from both starting candidates, especially after mistakes and turnovers last season doomed the most prolific Irish offense of the Kelly era in South Bend.
If you're expecting a starter to be named out of spring, you'll be disappointed. There's likely to be a ton of installation this spring, with Kelly's spread offense getting an infusion of new ideas from an outsider for the first time in nearly a decade.
From a pragmatic point of view, declaring a victor doesn't make much sense, either. With Golson capable of transferring after he earns his degree in May, calling the race for Zaire would all but book Golson's one-way ticket out of town.
Whoever wins the starting job will be piloting an offense that should be one of the best in the country. Even with the transfer of Matt Hegarty, the offensive line looks to be stacked.
Junior running backs Tarean Folston and Greg Bryant will also get a lift from Sanford's arrival, with Folston ready to be a star and Bryant having shown flashes, as well.
At tight end, the Irish return just one catch for seven yards after Ben Koyack departed. But a deep and explosive receiving corps led by All-American candidate Will Fuller could line up playmakers four or five wide, leaving the tight ends to be, well, tight ends.
As a coordinator at Boise State, Sanford's offenses averaged 494 yards per game. The personnel he'll be coaching in South Bend is better at just about every position.
So while the quarterback battle will take up most of the discussion, the Irish are loaded across the entire offense.
| Everett Golson | 60.0 | 3,445 | 29 | 14 | 283 | 8 |
| Malik Zaire | 60.0 | 266 | 1 | 0 | 187 | 2 |
What to Watch on Defense
After Notre Dame started the season as one of the premier defensive units in the country, coordinator Brian VanGorder's stock plummeted after a hot start led to seven straight games giving up 30 or more points.
To be clear, injuries played a large part in that fall. But so did some major deficiencies.
The Irish defense couldn't slow down an uptempo offense. After North Carolina torched the Irish for 43 points on Oct. 11, the word was out.
And while Notre Dame's third-down defense succeeded in utilizing exotic sub-packages and specialists early in the season, the Irish were toothless when a team moved too quickly to allow VanGorder to substitute.
Injuries will still carry over to spring. Team MVP Joe Schmidt is still recovering from a broken fibula suffered against Navy on Nov. 1. Jarron Jones is out as he recovers from Lisfranc surgery. Meanwhile, safety Drue Tranquill is recovering from a torn ACL.
But after a young group learned on the fly throughout a difficult November, spring should show off a jump-start in development, with unproven players being the beneficiaries of early playing time, even if it produced some ugly results.
The personnel is also a reason for optimism. The entire front four will return, with Isaac Rochell looking like another potential standout. New defensive line coach Keith Gilmore will spend the spring trying to find a pass-rusher out of an inexperienced but talented group.
The linebacking corps already has a star in Jaylon Smith. Paired with Schmidt (who outplayed Smith when he was healthy), the Irish have a one-two punch that's among the best in the country. And the candidates for the third spot are both talented and varied, with new linebackers coach Mike Elston capable of playing 2013 starter Jarrett Grace, freshman All-American Nyles Morgan or returning starter James Onwualu.
The depth in the secondary isn't ideal. Safeties Max Redfield and Elijah Shumate have no choice but to perform. Former Irish All-American and NFL Pro Bowler Todd Lyght will take over coaching responsibilities with a fresh start likely needed. VanGorder will spend plenty of time with the back end this spring, as well.
At cornerback, Cole Luke is another ascending player, and he is coming off an excellent season against elite competition. And while the Irish lost fifth-year transfer Cody Riggs, they'll most likely welcome back KeiVarae Russell this spring, an upgrade at a position where Riggs performed very well.
With opposing coaches having a year of tape on VanGorder, Notre Dame's scheme won't surprise anyone like it did last year. So the Irish will have to show that their early success last season wasn't smoke and mirrors.
Players to Keep an Eye On
Is this the year that Max Redfield turns into a star? After a mostly anonymous freshman season that only included a start in the Pinstripe Bowl, Redfield's up-and-down sophomore campaign was a disappointment for many.
But before Harrison Smith turned into a first-round NFL draft pick, he had a permanent place in the doghouse as a first- and second-year player. And while an epic body count didn't allow Redfield to stay in that doghouse last November, a 14-tackle performance against LSU ended his 2014 season on a high note.
We've looked at the redshirt freshmen who will have a chance to earn a job. They include offensive linemen Quenton Nelson and Alex Bars, who will vie for the open job up front after Matt Hegarty announced his transfer.
On defense, Jonathan Bonner and Jhonny Williams will each have a chance to help an ailing pass rush.
While he's certainly no newcomer, linebacker Jarrett Grace deserves your attention. After opening the 2013 season as the heir apparent to Manti Te'o, Grace's career was sent off course after a horrific leg injury suffered in the Shamrock Series game against Arizona State.
Grace broke his leg in multiple places, an injury that looked career-threatening. He suffered a setback when he underwent surgery last spring to relieve some pain. After spending much of last year just learning how to run again, Grace will be back on the field competing for a job.
There would be no better story than Grace's successful return to the field in 2015.
Coach Kelly's Toughest Task
After seeing quarterbacks Dayne Crist, Gunner Kiel and Andrew Hendrix transfer after not winning starting jobs, Kelly knows firsthand what an unscheduled departure does to the most important depth chart on the roster.
So as a quarterback battle between Golson and Zaire commences, balancing what's best for the team in both the short and long term will be interesting to watch.
In Golson, Kelly has a quarterback who has spent two seasons in the starting lineup—no quarterback has started three for Kelly.
Golson showed the ability to manage the game and his turnovers as a redshirt freshman in 2012. He was also among the top playmakers in college football last season. But after finishing 101st in turnovers in 2014, it's up to Golson (with Sanford's help) to eradicate those mistakes, or he'll spend the season on the bench.
In Zaire, Kelly has the leader he's craved at the position. After taking the majority of the snaps against LSU and leading the Irish to an emotional victory, Zaire proved that he could win against an elite SEC defense.
But Zaire still has some rough spots as a passer—playing garbage time against USC and handling a limited playbook against the Tigers was hardly a full course load.
Crist and Hendrix departed after the writing was already on the wall. Kiel's departure forced Tommy Rees back into the starting lineup in 2013, when Golson was suspended for the season.
There's a blueprint for the Irish winning with both quarterbacks playing a key role. Urban Meyer, when coaching the Florida Gators, utilized a similar plan with veteran Chris Leak and sledgehammer Tim Tebow. Kelly basically did the same with Tony Pike and Zach Collaros at Cincinnati.
Even with a difficult schedule, there are great expectations for the 2015 Irish. To reach them, Kelly needs both Golson and Zaire in uniform.
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