Offensive Versatility Coming to Notre Dame Stadium

Notre Dame will forever be known as Tight End U, but that doesn’t mean the Irish offense needs to force-feed the tight end every week. 

In 2022, Michael Mayer was targeted 101 times by Notre Dame’s quarterbacks and while he was productive with 67 receptions for 809 yards and nine touchdowns, Marcus Freeman wants his offense to take the next step under Gerad Parker. 

Notre Dame didn’t target the tight end in its 42-3 win over Navy last Saturday despite playing in tight end heavy formations. Mitchell Evans and Holden Staes will absolutely get their targets in the coming weeks, but also expect Parker to roll out more personnel groupings this weekend as Notre Dame hosts Tennessee State. 

“This week we’ll present a couple different other things and say within our team, what gives us the best opportunity to succeed versus Tennessee State,” stated Freeman. “I think you’ll see multiple different personnel groups this week.

“I don’t know if I want to give away everything we’re going to do, but you will see some personnel you maybe haven’t seen in the past that we look to really create some mismatches and try to put ourselves in a matchup where we feel really favorable.” 

What could Notre Dame feature this week?

Well, it starts with the young receivers. Freshman receiver Rico Flores Jr. was on the field for 19 snaps and recorded one reception, while classmate Jaden Greathouse scored twice on just eight plays. 

It’s also important for Parker to get sophomore Tobias Merriweather involved and build on Deion Colzie’s three receptions for 45 yards and a score last weekend. 

“I think as these young wideouts continue to gain the trust of our coaching staff and of everybody, you can see more wideouts,” Freeman explained. “Look at what happened with five running backs that all contributed last game. How do we make sure we utilize all these different skills that we have with different personnel? “ 

And yes, Notre Dame’s famous 11 and 12 personnel grouping aren’t going anywhere, but it’s clear the staff wants to find advantages each week. 

“We used 12 probably more than anything last week with Holden and Mitch,” stated Freeman. “I would see us using that at times this week a lot too, but I also see us just being versatile in what we’re doing. It starts with us. Who gives us the best chance to succeed, but what person can we get into that we believe that creates some advantages for us offensively.” 

IRISH FRESH
The unknown entering the week was how Notre Dame would react to travel to and from Ireland. Freeman stated on Monday he was more than open to restructuring practice to help his team transition, but he also made it clear the Irish would be pushed. 

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon and Freeman made small adjustments to practice the last two days while not sacrificing the crucial periods to install the game plan. 

”I took maybe one or two periods off of the entire practice,” said Freeman. “I did not take away from those scout team periods that we need to be prepared for a game. I think we saved probably 10 minutes on Tuesday and maybe five minutes on Wednesday. 

“I feel like our guys bounced back. We had a really spirited Tuesday practice. I challenged us all as coaches and players, I wanted Wednesday to be even better than Tuesday in terms of the execution and urgency we have to have on the field.”

Freeman’s team responded to the challenge following Tuesday’s practice as the Irish were locked in on Wednesday, which is a physical practice. 

“I told them after practice that it was probably the best Wednesday practice we’ve had here in a while,” Freeman stated. “I was really pleased with those two days of physical work and we’re going to have one more good one today.”

RARIDON CLOSE
Sophomore tight end Eli Raridon missed the 2023 season opener and will miss the home opener as he recovers from his second ACL injury. 

In fall camp, Raridon did pretty much everything, but live 11-on-11 and contact periods as he waits to get cleared. And there is also no rush given his history as a third injury would be devestating. 

”Eli will not go this game,” said Freeman. “He hasn’t been fully cleared yet. He’s still working his way back. We hope in the next couple weeks he’ll be 100 percent cleared. It’s just being cleared to truly play in a game. It’s just a progress for him from where he’s at now to being able to be game-ready. Hopefully in the next few weeks, he’ll be at that point.” 

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