Notre Dame Football: Brian Kelly Assesses State of Team Near Spring's End

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Another spring season is nearing its end, as Notre Dame football will close out its 15-practice slate with the Blue-Gold Game on Saturday.

Irish head coach Brian Kelly has said throughout the past few weeks that this spring was different from any other during his tenure in South Bend. Instead of tiptoeing around injuries and depth concerns, Notre Dame boasted the (healthy) bodies to engage in a physical and competitive spring.

So with the book just about closed on this phase of the year-round football cycle, let’s zero in on the state of the Irish.

Quarterbacks

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Kelly has already said the quarterback competition between Everett Golson and Malik Zaire will continue into August. The two signal-callers have split reps throughout the spring, and both quarterbacks will be live during the first half of Saturday’s game.

“Both of them are guys that require that element in their game,” Kelly said. “Both of those guys need to be who they are, and that’s who they are. They’re guys who need to move in the pocket and make plays with their feet, and they both can run the football.”

Asked generally to evaluate areas or position groups of strength, Kelly first assessed his two quarterbacks.

“I think at the quarterback position, maybe other than Ohio State, I would take our two quarterbacks, and I would take our two over Ohio State’s,” Kelly said. “But in terms of depth, I don’t think that anybody has a better situation than we do with the two quarterbacks that we have.”

That’s high praise for Golson and Zaire. And whether it’s justified or outlandish, the support certainly isn’t lost on Zaire, for one.

More practically, however, Kelly said the disparity in experience between Golson and Zaire isn’t a major sticking point in the quarterback evaluation. Golson has started 23 games, attempted 745 passes and tallied 41 touchdown tosses in an Irish uniform. Zaire has only attempted 35 passes.

“For us, it’s been working on what we perceive to be what their weaknesses were,” Kelly said.

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

The Irish staff has focused on improving Golson’s pocket presence and ball security. Kelly noted the fifth-year player has done a great job in the pocket and “really progressed in the areas we’ve asked him to.” For Zaire, his areas of emphasis moving forward will be accuracy and managing the offense, Kelly said.

Offense

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Outside of the quarterbacks, Kelly said he’s pleased with the state of the offense in general.

The offensive line has featured left tackle Ronnie Stanley, center Nick Martin, right guard Steve Elmer and right tackle Mike McGlinchey, with redshirt freshmen Quenton Nelson and Alex Bars both earning reps at left guard. Kelly said Wednesday that both Nelson and Bars will play at left guard. If there’s an area of concern for Kelly on the offensive line, it’s the tackle depth. Kelly said earlier this spring he didn’t want to handicap the left guard battle by taking guard reps away from Bars and practicing him too much at the tackle spots.

Redshirt sophomore Durham Smythe is in line to take over the top tight end duties after Ben Koyack’s graduation. Smythe has hauled in just one career reception for seven yards.

“I really like the spring Durham Smythe has had,” Kelly said. “I think he’s really, in my eyes, kinda picked up where the Notre Dame tight ends need to be when you expect them to step in for the next graduating senior. It’s pretty clear that he’s going to be an important part of our offense.”

Fifth-year slot man Amir Carlisle has turned in a strong spring, per Kelly, and Corey Robinson and Will Fuller have battled through injuries.

“I think for some of those guys, it’s more about their physical development off the field,” Kelly said. “Will’s gotta continue to get stronger so he can dictate his routes instead of being dictated by a more physical defender.”

Defense

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Kelly said he’s been most pleased defensively with the play of safeties Max Redfield and Elijah Shumate this spring, adding Redfield is “a different player than he was.” Kelly has noted the improved communication and confidence oozing from the back end of the defense.

Junior-to-be Jaylon Smith made the move to the “Will” linebacker spot in new coordinator Brian VanGorder’s defense last season, and Smith has gradually been exposed to the other positions as well this spring. Teams won’t be able to scheme away from him as much, Kelly explained.

“We can choose to put him in a number of different positions, and you’ll have to game-plan against him,” Kelly said. “Last year at times, you could take him out of the game. … Now, because we’ve cross-trained him, you can’t. And I think that’s going to make a huge difference. … Now, he’s going to be central to everything that happens during the game.”

While Smith anchors a deep linebacking corps, Kelly said Notre Dame must continue to grow at cornerback, a relatively thin position. Second-year corner Nick Watkins has had “a good spring,” per Kelly.

“Nick Watkins individually made the progress that we were hoping that he’d make, playing with a lot more confidence and certainly somebody that we feel like is gonna be able to contribute to our football team next year,” Kelly said.

VanGorder said earlier in the week there hasn’t been stark separation between Watkins and third-year cornerback Devin Butler, who have both earned first-team reps opposite solidified starter Cole Luke.

Injuries

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Notre Dame’s 2014 campaign unraveled down the stretch as the injuries piled up. Kelly said Wednesday that middle linebacker Joe Schmidt and defensive tackle Jarron Jones will “absolutely” be ready for fall practice and are expected to be available for Notre Dame’s nine summer OTAs, which begin June 5.

Sophomore-to-be safety Drue Tranquill (torn ACL) is moving “extremely well,” per Kelly, and could play now in a game if Notre Dame needed him.

The Blue-Gold Game kicks off Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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