6 Thoughts on a Thursday

Nick Coleman isn’t going to be written about too often when people are thinking back about Notre Dame football, but he’s a great example of someone who was able to flip the script on his career after a position change and a new opportunity under a new position coach.

A forgotten player at corner, he started at safety in 2017 and then emerged at nickel in 2018. He might not have been a star, but he helped those teams win football games.

Fans aren’t thinking much about the next Nick Coleman heading into spring ball. They are busy worrying about who will be the next stars to replace guys like Kyren Williams and Kyle Hamilton. They know that the Irish can’t be a playoff contender without those stars. There is no disputing that, but each team needs more than just stars to step forward.

Teams need role players that can play a part in making the offense or defense succeed, which is what Notre Dame got with Coleman and has had with a player like Bo Bauer. Cumulatively, those players can mean a lot to a team.

There are seven new coaches on staff this year for Notre Dame and one good thing about that is that it gives some forgotten players another opportunity to make a first impression. A player like NaNa Osafo-Mensah, who moved up and down the depth chart at defensive end, has been mentioned as a player who has been more vocal this offseason. That might not lead to anything, but it could because he has a new position coach and Osafo-Mensah isn’t shying away from stepping forward ths winter. With the questions at his spot, the defense would benefit greatly from a more consistent presence from him.

There’s a handful of guys on the defensive line that will have a chance to make something out of this new opportunity with a new coach and that’s not the only spot where there are players with similar circumstances. I’ve already written about how bringing in Harry Hiestand could greatly change the development curve of guys like Tosh Baker and Michael Carmody on the offensive line. There are several others where expectations aren’t high for them, but they can earn a chance to play key roles this season.

Most of the focus this spring is going to be whether or not players like Tyler Buchner, Marist Liufau, and Lorenzo Styles can emerge as bonafide stars, but some others with a second chance could make some noise as well. Those players may not generate headlines, but they can be very important to the fabric of a team.

2. ISD’s Matt Freeman has posted some INTEL on winter workouts the past couple of weeks that have praised new defensive line coach Al Washington’s ability to connect with the players.

I think many people have taken that as being a little bit of a knock on Mike Elston, but I don’t necessarily see that as being the case. They’re just different coaches. Age is certainly part of it, Washington is 10 years younger than Elston, but style is part of it too.

Elston’s style certainly produced good results, but he was “kick you in the butt” as much as “pat you on the back” and that can be good and bad. For some guys it works great. For others who don't have experience early success on the field, that doesn’t exactly propel their development.

Results are what matter in the end, but at a position that requires more players to see the field than others on the team, you want to have as much buy-in from the group as possible. It sounds like Washington is on his way to accomplishing that before they even start practicing.

3. This is going to be a front seven heavy 6 Thoughts this week and I have to admit that I’ve been thinking a lot about the linebacker position for the Irish. I think there are so many ways that things can shake out.

At Mike linebacker, it’s undeniable that Bo Bauer has earned his status as a fan favorite so seeing him finally win the starting job would be a nice story. While everybody focuses on the positives for Bauer, I know that many have been stuck on the negatives for JD Bertrand because of the way he finished last season.

I haven’t seen anyone talking about how Bertrand, who should be moving back to Mike after starting at Will in 2021, put up triple digits in tackles. He joins Manti Te’o, Jaylon Smith, and Te’von Coney as the only players on the Irish to have done that in the last decade. That’s a pretty good group to be included in.

Those three linebackers all put up those tackling numbers multiple times and Bertrand has a chance to accomplish that as well. I don’t think anyone would have predicted that for him when he signed with Notre Dame.

It takes more than just putting up tackling numbers to truly be included with Te’o, Smith, and Coney. Bertrand clearly has room to improve his game and 101 tackles last year could make him an outlier compared to them if he doesn’t. However, he has two or three years of eligibility left and he should be back playing to his natural position this season. No one should be surprised if he’s a better version of the player he was last year while putting up over 100 tackles again.

4. I know I’m more excited about Marist Liufau’s return than anything else at linebacker, but what Notre Dame might do at the Rover position is the most intriguing sub-plot there.

Jack Kiser is the returning starter there and coming into spring he is no doubt in the top-three linebackers on the roster, but is that his best position? Is there room for him to slide back inside and compete there? Is there someone else who is better suited for that spot and could that change the direction of what Notre Dame wants to do on defense?

Kiser might have had the quietest season last year out of any defensive player who scored two touchdowns. Maybe that’s because he only had one tackle for loss compared to the 11 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had at that spot in 2020, but Kiser made those splash plays and was solid on the perimeter. He put up 10 total Havoc plays. 

I think he could be in line for a James Onwualu type of breakout. Onwualu had 19.5 Havoc plays in 2016 compared to 11 combined in the previous two years.

There is no one else with experience at Rover so it makes sense to keep him out there in a lot of ways, but there’s also early enrollees Jaylen Sneed and Nolan Ziegler who are at least intriguing depth there and Prince Kollie was at Rover before having to move to Will because of injuries.

Those players are the shiny new toys that haven’t been taken out of the box yet and it just might be as simple as seeing Kiser to stick there and make the leap this spring. But this time of year is the time to experiment with players at different spots and with Al Golden coming in with fresh eyes to evaluate everything, it will be interesting to see if they shuffle some things around.

5. Our guy JOHN BRICE is reporting that Notre Dame is bringing in Jeremy Larkin from Northwestern as a senior analyst to work with defensive backs and that’s in addition to Chris Watt on the offensive line, Ronnie Regula from Miami being brought in to help replace Nick Lezynski, and a promotion for Trevor Mendelson. He previously worked with the offensive line and is now working with quarterbacks and tight ends.

I don’t know if this means they are done in terms of the football staff or if they will add more, but already there’s more manpower than they had last season.

Other than bringing back an alum like Watt, these hires don’t make a lot of waves from a fan perspective. Adding more help on the football side of things is huge, though, especially when the coaching staff is already going to be pushed harder than the previous one when it comes to recruiting.

Any time I see them adding more help, I think that’s a great thing for the program and a great thing for the rest of the staff who are already overworked with recruiting responsibilities.

6. An ISD subscriber asked Mike and I on Power Hour whether or not Notre Dame had national championship talent? And if not, do they have enough talent for a playoff spot? (Thanks for the question, Chuck)

It’s really a question that needs to be asked every year because Notre Dame always has the same goal. They are in it to win it. No one is playing to win a consolation prize.

My answer on the podcast was no to the first question and yes to the second one. That’s going to stay the response unless a quarterback can elevate things for them, much like Joe Burrow did with LSU and the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s the same answer it was for the last five seasons under Brian Kelly.

I don’t think that is going to continue to be the response. The answer might not change next year either and I know everyone wants to fast track to get to that national championship level now. The only way to do that is to have a special quarterback with an already good roster. That part of it can be reassessed after the spring.