Notre Dame Football: Brian Kelly's Biggest Concerns Post-Spring

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Spring isn’t designed as a time for negativity and pessimism, but Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly still has a few areas of concern following the slate of 15 practices.

By and large, Notre Dame is in good shape. As Kelly has reiterated, the depth in the program is strong and the Irish coaching staff was able to handle the spring season differently than it has at any other point in Kelly’s tenure in South Bend.

But whether Kelly is outwardly optimistic or not, there are issues worth monitoring with this Irish squad moving forward.

Let’s address a few.

Defensive Health

STEVEN CANNON/Associated Press

When making predictions, it’s easy to pencil Notre Dame’s banged-up bodies into the fall depth chart. According to Kelly, middle linebacker Joe Schmidt and defensive tackle Jarron Jones will “absolutely” be ready for fall camp and should participate in summer OTAs in June, too.

Second-year safety Drue Tranquill is recovering from a torn ACL and has drawn impressive reviews of his ongoing return.

While all signs are certainly pointing in the right direction, it’s often easy to assume the returning players won’t miss a beat and will step right back to their previous form.

Pass Rush

Joe Raymond/Associated Press

Without a proven and dominant pass-rusher, Notre Dame is preaching a sacks-by-committee approach heading toward the 2015 season.

In 2014, defensive end Romeo Okwara led the Irish with four sacks. Linebacker Jaylon Smith and defensive back Matthias Farley each tallied 3.5 sacks. Jones chipped in 1.5, Isaac Rochell added 2.5 and Sheldon Day nabbed one.

Sure, there will be individual improvement. Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder praised Rochell’s growth throughout the spring, highlighting his understanding, quickness and foot coordination.

But without an elite pass-rusher, Notre Dame just might not be a team able to consistently pressure quarterbacks—especially those with the ability to bounce around the pocket and elude rushers.

Special Teams

Credit: 247Sports

If Irish fans were looking for any further indication that special teams aren’t a focus in the spring, then a quick reminder of the Blue-Gold game scoring might change their thinking.

By rule, there were no kickoffs during the spring game and all punts were fair catches. Of course, injury prevention is the primary reason for the lack of special teams work. That’s worthwhile for sure.

But with most practices indoors at the Loftus Sports Center, it would seem consistent practice for the third phase of the game is hard to come by.

Moreover, Notre Dame’s expected starting kicker, incoming freshman Justin Yoon, won’t arrive for another few months.

The spring did afford new punter Tyler Newsome the opportunity to gain valuable reps after Kyle Brindza’s graduation.

Special teams in South Bend have been a punch line in recent years. Until Notre Dame shows marked improvement in this department, there will be lingering concerns.

Depth

Joe Raymond/Associated Press

To be clear, Notre Dame’s depth is a strength overall. The Irish have added deep recruiting classes in recent years, and last year’s horde of underclassmen has progressed into a crop of seasoned upperclassmen.

However, there are a few areas worth keeping an eye on.

While assessing Notre Dame’s defense before the spring game, Kelly said the Irish must continue to grow at cornerback. Second-year man Nick Watkins turned in a strong spring showing, but most of the Irish depth at the position has yet to touch down in South Bend.

Three cornerbacks—Shaun Crawford, Ashton White and Nick Coleman—are scheduled to enroll this summer, while KeiVarae Russell is expected back in June, as well. Those reinforcements should turn the group into a position of strength, but the spring months aren’t to be totally discounted.

One of the main storylines following Saturday’s Blue-Gold game was the Irish offensive line.

In addition to an impressive performance by the starting unit, including both left guards Quenton Nelson and Alex Bars, Kelly agreed afterward the offensive line could be as deep as any he’s had in South Bend.

While that could prove to be true given the recent success with recruiting along the line, Notre Dame doesn’t boast many established commodities in the second unit. Even starting right tackle Mike McGlinchey has only logged one career start—the Music City Bowl against LSU.

There's work to be done in the summer months heading toward fall camp.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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