Disguises = Fun for Notre Dame Secondary
Notre Dame’s defense will have its third defensive coordinator in three years, which normally isn’t a good thing, but in this case, Clark Lea and Marcus Freeman were promoted to head coaching roles.
The Irish have embraced Al Golden’s new schemes and perhaps more importantly, Notre Dame’s secondary is having fun playing in the defense.
“We’re repping plays every day,” stated junior safety Ramon Henderson. “Out of the three defensive coordinators I’ve had these past three years, I like his defense the best.”
Golden used the spring to learn his defensive players, while also installing the basics of what he wanted to Irish defense to look like in 2022.
For graduate student DJ Brown, there is a confidence brewing. Brown feels comfort in the new scheme as Notre Dame has turned the page to Ohio State.
“At this point, I feel I have mastered it,” said Brown. “We’ve done it so many times. We did it in the spring, gone through it in the summer and now. I feel my comfort level is all the way there and I have everything down. Getting the calls and stuff, I’m not really worried about. It’s about honing in on the calls for Ohio State.”
Golden’s defense will challenge opposing quarterbacks as pre-snap disguises will be frequent, which safety Houston Griffith loves. In fact, Griffith has been watching film of Buffalo Bills safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Pryor to learn how to master his disguises as they do it better than anyone.
“Oh hell yeah, it makes it so fun,” Griffith said on Monday. “I feel like for us, we’re going to have a lot of fun this year playing with these pre-snap looks and it’s going to throw a lot of these quarterbacks off when they’re making these reads. Going through week one, week two, the whole season is going to be a joy for us. We're looking forward to making plays and being in those pre-snap looks.
“It’s going to create a lot of matchups the quarterback isn’t going to see and he’s going to fall into something. I’m looking forward to getting better with those disguises and our communication overall.”
Now, it hasn’t been easy for the Irish defense as Golden has challenged each player to enhance their knowledge of the entire defense, which includes learning more positions than just their own.
“There is a lot more thought to it,” Henderson explained, “You have to think about where everyone else is going to be pretty much. It’s more of having a feeling and knowing where everyone else is going to be. You have to know more positions rather than just your own to really excel in his defense.”
Confusing CJ Stroud will be key for Notre Dame on Sept. 3rd as the Heisman candidate has lit up just about every defense he has faced in the last year.
The challenge of the Buckeyes high octane offense is something Brown wants and is excited to face.
“I know they’re going to throw the ball and as a safety that makes me excited,” stated Brown. “They have good receivers and a good quarterback and as a safety, who doesn’t get excited for that.”
Ohio State is a familiar foe for All-American Brandon Joseph (Northwestern transfer) and he knows some of the pre-snap looks could tilt the edge in favor of the Irish in September and moving forward.
“Disguising is part of a great defense,” said Joseph.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Guinness Victory Falls Tri-Blend T-Shirt
