Brian Kelly Notebook | 8.12

Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly spoke with Jack Nolan following Monday’s practice. 
 
On the emphasis of Monday’s practice: 
“You’re right in the middle of things in terms of practices. Today was a lot of the mental aspects of this game. The teams that are really going to accelerate are going to fight through these days and work on getting better at their technique and working on their specializations in terms of third-down and red zone.  The message was these are the dog days. The great teams fight through and embrace it. It was about having the right attitude. 
 
“I thought our guys did a nice job. They got here and got their work done. They were purposeful and they’ve been that way. Whatever we’ve asked them to do, they’ve done it the right way. We had another good day today.” 
 
On the captains embracing leadership role:
“There are always little things you have to work on every day. I try to give them opportunities to lead. This is their team. Whether it’s things in the dorm or locker room, they are constantly working on making sure players are being held to the standards they are supposed to. It’s easy for me to blow the whistle and make a guy take a lap. I can do that at any time. That doesn’t give our team the edge it needs when it comes to peer accountability.
 
“We gave them a chance to lead and they do a good job with it.” 
 
On the rest of the week of practice:
“Tomorrow will be a scrimmage. We’ll try to get in 45-50 plays. We’re trying to get in some rotation work in relation to the first group, but who are those key backups? Guys who will have to play quality minutes for us. It should be spirited and we’ll have a good scrimmage. They’ll get a day off and then we start to get into three or four days of good hard work.”