Del Alexander Pleased with Notre Dame's Receivers During Pandemic

Notre Dame recruiting and special teams coordinator Brian Polian continued checking in with the staff during the Notre Dame Minute. 

Receivers coach Del Alexander has felt his room has done a great job of communicating and handling their academics while being away from campus. 

"It's going pretty good," Alexander said. "I think our guys do a great job of responding to text messages, Zoom meetings and individual calls. I think the biggest thing is keeping those guys on track academically and making sure their families are OK.

"The best thing we're trying to get done academically is keeping those guys on the same schedules. A lot of our young guys are up in the morning and engaged with the professors all the way until the evening with Adam (Sargent) and the academic support group with tutors and learning specialists." 

When it comes to football, Notre Dame only practiced once this spring, so Alexander has focused on making sure his guys are challenged mentally.  

"Luckily, the rules allow us to meet," stated Alexander. "With Zoom and the rules, we can meet two to three times a week. We're going back over installs, practice drills and moving forward into trying to talk a little bit about situation football. There is so much that's missing on the field without doing spring. We're trying to keep them engaged in all aspects of the game." 

One concern every program has centers around strength and conditioning. 

There aren't mandatory workouts and not every player has had access to a weight room during the pandemic. Notre Dame and other schools were proactive in sending out bands and a workout plan, but it was far from the training they would have received on campus over the spring. 

"It's a drastic change for them in the weight room," explained Alexander. "I think our guys really appreciate us giving them those bands because some of those guys don't have workout equipment at home. Being in the house and having some sort of equipment helps those guys stay in shape, keep tone and gives them an activity in the house where they might just be playing video games."

Alexander is now heading into year four with the Irish and he has a good thing going as three receivers have been drafted since he arrived in South Bend. 

Equanimeous St. Brown, Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool have headlined the Irish receiver corps and Alexander hopes to find and develop the next one. 

"We just try to find some consistency," said Alexander. "We've tried to make sure the guys buy into the standard of the team and the approach and philosophy Coach Kelly has set. Just try to do our part and not try to do too much, but understand the concept of team. 

"Our guys are hard working and understand their roles. They embrace those roles. We're always trying to find the next guy that fits who we are and our identity. It's just been fun. We have a lot of fun, but our guys aren't afraid to put in a good day's work."