Notre Dame Football: 3 Areas of Improvement for the Irish in 2016

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame's two regular-season losses were decided by a combined four points in 2015, and the margin separating the elite teams in college football wasn’t large.

With the focus firmly placed on the recruiting homestretch, let’s take a step back and analyze the Irish and how they can improve—tightening that small gap—heading into 2016.

Red-Zone Offense

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Coaches often say they want to finish their offensive drives with a kick.

At some point, though, Notre Dame can increase its offensive efficiency and place less pressure on its defense by turning those kicks from field goals to extra points.

Notre Dame converted 58 percent of its red-zone trips into touchdowns, tied for 79th in the nation, better than only one of the top-10 teams in the country.

Final AP Rank	Team	Red-Zone TD Rate	National Rank
1	Alabama	56%	90th
2	Clemson	60%	t-70th
3	Stanford	66%	30th
4	Ohio State	65%	38th
5	Oklahoma	67%	t-26th
6	Michigan State	69%	t-19th
7	TCU	65%	37th
8	Houston	73%	8th
9	Iowa	65%	t-39th
10	Ole Miss	60%	72nd

The Irish had a mid-season stretch of success in the red zone. They converted at least half of their red-zone trips into touchdowns against Georgia Tech, UMass, Clemson and Navy, only to struggle against USC and Temple in October (two touchdowns in five trips in each game). Irish head coach Brian Kelly made adjustments heading into the Pitt game, and the Irish churned out six points in their next six appearances against the Panthers and Wake Forest.

The problems, though, cropped up again in matchups with Boston College and Stanford. Steadier red-zone offense can lift the Irish in 2016.

Big Plays

Joe Raymond/Associated Press

Former defensive coordinator Bob Diaco and his defenses were stamped with a bend-don’t-break moniker. Current defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder was noted for his aggressiveness when he arrived at this time two years ago.

Rather than paint with broad strokes, let’s look at Notre Dame’s defense in 2015. The Irish allowed 63 plays of at least 20 yards from scrimmage, tied for 82nd-best in the country.

Final AP Rank	Team	20-Plus Yard Plays Allowed	National Rank
1	Alabama	58	t-61st
2	Clemson	71	t-102nd
3	Stanford	58	t-61st
4	Ohio State	39	4th
5	Oklahoma	51	t-37th
6	Michigan State	65	90th
7	TCU	62	t-77th
8	Houston	72	t-106th
9	Iowa	52	t-41st
10	Ole Miss	56	t-47th

Surely, both scheme and technique impact the numbers. Can the Irish limit mental breakdowns and shore up their tackling in 2016?

Special Teams Coverage

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For years, Irish fans clamored for better performances from Notre Dame’s special teams units.

In 2015, the Irish steadied. Snaps and holds weren’t being replayed and screenshotted. Fair catches were no longer a punch line.

Kicker Justin Yoon proved mightily consistent after a pair of misses in his first two collegiate games. Fellow freshman C.J. Sanders jolted the return game with both a kick and punt returned for touchdowns.

Still, Notre Dame can trim the gap between itself and the rest of the nation’s elite with improved kick coverage, an area fully on contrasting display against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Irish allowed an average of 22.1 yards per kickoff return in 2015, the 80th-best mark in the nation.

Final AP Rank	Team	Average Return Allowed	National Rank
1	Alabama	19.0	23rd
2	Clemson	24.9	116th
3	Stanford	21.0	60th
4	Ohio State	16.3	3rd
5	Oklahoma	21.5	67th
6	Michigan State	21.6	69th
7	TCU	20.4	t-46th
8	Houston	20.4	t-46th
9	Iowa	23.6	104th
10	Ole Miss	19.1	28th

In harping on how close they came to a historic regular season, the Irish can narrow their focus further to improve their special teams.

All quotes were obtained firsthand and all stats courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.

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