Lea Prepared to Lead Notre Dame's Defense
After a rocky couple of years with Brian VanGorder, Notre Dame got out of that defensive coordinator relationship and found a better alternative in Mike Elko. And for one year, it sure seemed like they had found a great match.
After an unexpected breakup, Brian Kelly had to go looking for another DC that could not only replace, but potentially build on what Elko had done to turn around the defense.
He didn’t have to go far to find it when he promoted longtime Elko associate, Clark Lea.
The expectation for the defense under Lea is that it won’t look much different from what we saw from Elko. At least not schematically. The terminology will remain the same and the defense they have installed last year is still present this spring.
More importantly, the culture Elko brought in won’t change. Lea is closely aligned with Elko in that sense.
“Philosophically we are really close, (very) closely aligned,” Lea stated. “How we treat the players. The discipline of the players. The accountability of the players. The loving of the players. Trying to build relationships. That stuff is going to be very similar.”
That’s one reason why the players seem to be excited about Lea taking over as their coordinator. Another reason likely has to do with his style of coaching. His approach helped players like Drue Tranquill and Te’Von Coney have breakthrough seasons at linebacker last fall.
That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone because of the way teaches things on the field. It's player-friendly because it originated from the way he liked to be coached when he was a player.
“The coaching I responded to most...was not being brow-beaten or having something shoved down my throat,” Lea said. “It was being presented with how this is going to make me a better player. I think when you do that, you create buy-in into it. You want the execution of a drill to be in a way that they know exactly how it’s going to affect them on the field. When they do that their attention, their focus, the execution of the drill is higher.
“That’s where that comes from. I try to coach these guys in a way that is respectful of their intelligence and I know how desperately they want to be good. So let me not just drill the drill. Let me explain exactly how this drill will affect them in the game.”
It’s not simply about him trying to justify why the players need to do things his way. Lea is looking for a connection with all of the guys on the defense so they can understand him and he can build that trust with them as individuals.
He’s trying to learn how they work best and then using that to help them improve.
“It’s not about micro-managing the player,” explained Lea. “It’s kind of stepping back and observing how they function in a competitive environment. Then once you kind of have a feel for that, you then say, here’s what I see, here’s how I want this to change subtly. It’s amazing the barriers you can break down when you build a trust and that’s just through consistent approach.”
After listening to him speak, it would be tough to find anyone who doubted his coaching philosophy. His lack of experience calling plays is another story, though.
That is expected to be the biggest obstacle for him this season and he admitted, “That’s an area where I’m going to have to spend time on and growing.”
However, any thought that he is going in to this blind is incorrect. The collaborative process that Elko used to helped run the defense before him is something that should greatly assist Lea in the transition to his new role. He’s also not going into this thinking he can do it all on his own because of that.
“These aren’t easy solutions and I think a good coordinator doesn’t come in and say, 'This is how we’re doing it and that’s it.' Just like any healthy, functioning organization, you’re looking to pull and draw ideas and opinions from all areas.
“The number of conversations that Mike and I had either late at night or early in the morning where he’d come in and plop down and we’d hash something out that we were struggling with...the thing I think he did really well was, it was never okay to him to not have an answer. And not like in spring where you’re competing with the offense, but if you’re looking at something and you see the dilemma the player is in and you’re not addressing it, then you’re not coaching the players to their highest level.”
Lea continued, “That’s one thing that I always loved about him was that we never just did what we did. It was always, 'Is what we’re doing putting our players in a position to be successful and if it’s not, how do we adjust it subtly to ensure that it does?'”
It’s obvious he took a lot from his experience working with Elko in shaping the coordinator he wants to be. That part of it combined with his own style as a teacher is going to make his players want to perform for him. That’s half the battle and with so much experienced talent returning this season, Lea’s transition to his new role has a chance to be very successful.