This guy is my idea of what a football coach should be. If I were a parent, Elko and Lea are the coaches I would want my kid to play for, and this is part of the reason.
Notre Dame Football
Lea on Recruiting and Elko's System
It wasn’t a shock when Notre Dame announced Clark Lea would make the move from Wake Forest to coach linebackers, as he has worked with defensive coordinator Mike Elko for many years.
When Lea was officially hired, it was time to hit the recruiting trail and try to strengthen a class hit with recent decommitments. Lea has gotten the Irish in the middle of a few recruitments, which in turn could make Notre Dame in a for a big finish on Wednesday.
Lea admits the Notre Dame brand has helped with recruiting, but says the process in the long-term is still on the coaches themselves.
“I think the Notre Dame tradition of excellence and the historic success of the program gets you in front of any recruit in the country,” stated Lea. “We need to take advantage of that and go after the very best.
“There is still an element of rolling your sleeves up, going to work and evaluating the film. That part of it won’t change. Our ability to recruit the top tier player certainly gives us access to maybe some different guys we didn’t have access to in the past. We still need to do our due diligence to make sure they are fits and make sure we are the ones we are evaluating and not letting that be driven by third-party websites.”
Using the brand is something you will see the staff continue to do in recruiting battles and it helps get kids interested. The next step is determining interest from the prospect in order to prioritize the recruiting board.
“The advantage of being Notre Dame is that you immediately capture interest,” explained Lea. “One thing coming in late, you have to determine quickly if that interest is real or if it’s just someone who is caught up with the idea that being at Notre Dame is cool. That’s difficult.
“Everyone wants to come here on an official visit, as they should. This is a football player or football coaches dream to be in these halls and stadium. We have to dig in and really figure out if the kid is a great fit and if he is going to take to the characteristics that make Notre Dame such a unique experience.”
“You lean on your past relationships, high school coaches and interactions with family to determine if that is really that kind of player,” said Lea. “That happens on the run. There isn’t a lot of time.
“I think you have to cut to the chase. You don’t have the luxury of some of the small talk that goes on a lot of times early in recruiting someone.”
Much like Elko, Lea is leaning on his recent experience of choosing Notre Dame. He had to make a decision to leave Wake Forest to coach at Notre Dame and he’s hoping that has connected with his recruits.
“One thing I found effective was sharing my reasons for taking the job at Notre Dame and see if there was a connection on that level. I want to win a National Championship and posing that question, I can tell if that’s something of interest to the kid. We talk about what you’re willing to sacrifice to be great. The answers to that question can give you a glimpse into whether or not a student-athlete will go to class, which you have to do here.
“I think if we’re working as effectively and efficiently as we can, we aren’t chasing guys to class or babysitting guys off the field. All of our energy and effort is going towards being the best football team we can be.”
In terms of football, Lea is a firm believer in Elko and the defensive coordinators scheme. On Monday, Elko stated he fits his scheme to the strengths of his players and Lea has seen just that over the years, as Elko has adapted and improved his scheme.
“There are a lot of ways to draw up schemes that are effective,” Lea explained. “I think his scheme he has developed over the years is incredibly effective in defending the modern-age offense. Mike does a great job of identifying the problems offenses put you in and addressing those.
“It’s like you can do one of two things when something leaves a pit in your stomach. If you’re watching a scheme and don’t quite have the answer, you can either hope they don’t run it or dig in to find the answer. We’re going to teach it in a way that’s simple for them to use the technique or scheme we need in that moment. That’s what Mike does.”
“With all the scheme talk, the thing that has been the most fun working with Mike is the team plays with a spirit and a relentless effort,” Lea said. “They have fun on the field together. The reason is because he does a tremendous job at developing relationships.
“These kids know they aren’t coming into a business environment. This is a space for them to grow and learn. They are going to be held accountable and it’s not always going to be easy, but they’re going to be cared for. They know Coach Elko and his assistants have their back and that’s a powerful motivator.”
Lea also knows the message has to be hard at times, but there needs to be a balance of positive and negative energy in their message.
“What we do is extremely hard and if you beat the kids over the head day in and day out, they eventually wear out like the coaches will,” said Lea. “If you can help them improve and an environment that is dynamic and exciting or challenging, the good ones keep coming back for more.”
When Lea was officially hired, it was time to hit the recruiting trail and try to strengthen a class hit with recent decommitments. Lea has gotten the Irish in the middle of a few recruitments, which in turn could make Notre Dame in a for a big finish on Wednesday.
Lea admits the Notre Dame brand has helped with recruiting, but says the process in the long-term is still on the coaches themselves.
“I think the Notre Dame tradition of excellence and the historic success of the program gets you in front of any recruit in the country,” stated Lea. “We need to take advantage of that and go after the very best.
“There is still an element of rolling your sleeves up, going to work and evaluating the film. That part of it won’t change. Our ability to recruit the top tier player certainly gives us access to maybe some different guys we didn’t have access to in the past. We still need to do our due diligence to make sure they are fits and make sure we are the ones we are evaluating and not letting that be driven by third-party websites.”
Using the brand is something you will see the staff continue to do in recruiting battles and it helps get kids interested. The next step is determining interest from the prospect in order to prioritize the recruiting board.
“The advantage of being Notre Dame is that you immediately capture interest,” explained Lea. “One thing coming in late, you have to determine quickly if that interest is real or if it’s just someone who is caught up with the idea that being at Notre Dame is cool. That’s difficult.
“Everyone wants to come here on an official visit, as they should. This is a football player or football coaches dream to be in these halls and stadium. We have to dig in and really figure out if the kid is a great fit and if he is going to take to the characteristics that make Notre Dame such a unique experience.”
I want to win a National Championship.
Maximum effort still might be enough when coaches are trying to build relationships in a few weeks versus schools that have relationships with prospects for months or even years. “You lean on your past relationships, high school coaches and interactions with family to determine if that is really that kind of player,” said Lea. “That happens on the run. There isn’t a lot of time.
“I think you have to cut to the chase. You don’t have the luxury of some of the small talk that goes on a lot of times early in recruiting someone.”
Much like Elko, Lea is leaning on his recent experience of choosing Notre Dame. He had to make a decision to leave Wake Forest to coach at Notre Dame and he’s hoping that has connected with his recruits.
“One thing I found effective was sharing my reasons for taking the job at Notre Dame and see if there was a connection on that level. I want to win a National Championship and posing that question, I can tell if that’s something of interest to the kid. We talk about what you’re willing to sacrifice to be great. The answers to that question can give you a glimpse into whether or not a student-athlete will go to class, which you have to do here.
“I think if we’re working as effectively and efficiently as we can, we aren’t chasing guys to class or babysitting guys off the field. All of our energy and effort is going towards being the best football team we can be.”
In terms of football, Lea is a firm believer in Elko and the defensive coordinators scheme. On Monday, Elko stated he fits his scheme to the strengths of his players and Lea has seen just that over the years, as Elko has adapted and improved his scheme.
“There are a lot of ways to draw up schemes that are effective,” Lea explained. “I think his scheme he has developed over the years is incredibly effective in defending the modern-age offense. Mike does a great job of identifying the problems offenses put you in and addressing those.
“It’s like you can do one of two things when something leaves a pit in your stomach. If you’re watching a scheme and don’t quite have the answer, you can either hope they don’t run it or dig in to find the answer. We’re going to teach it in a way that’s simple for them to use the technique or scheme we need in that moment. That’s what Mike does.”
What we do is extremely hard and if you beat the kids over the head day in and day out, they eventually wear out like the coaches will.
A big part of the success the two have had is the ability to have the defense buy into the message. It’s not something the players hear in a pregame speech, but rather a daily message and expectation. “With all the scheme talk, the thing that has been the most fun working with Mike is the team plays with a spirit and a relentless effort,” Lea said. “They have fun on the field together. The reason is because he does a tremendous job at developing relationships.
“These kids know they aren’t coming into a business environment. This is a space for them to grow and learn. They are going to be held accountable and it’s not always going to be easy, but they’re going to be cared for. They know Coach Elko and his assistants have their back and that’s a powerful motivator.”
Lea also knows the message has to be hard at times, but there needs to be a balance of positive and negative energy in their message.
“What we do is extremely hard and if you beat the kids over the head day in and day out, they eventually wear out like the coaches will,” said Lea. “If you can help them improve and an environment that is dynamic and exciting or challenging, the good ones keep coming back for more.”
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