Practice Report: 3/31

Notre Dame was back on the practice field on Friday morning as Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick was in attendance.

Sophomore defensive end Ade Ogundeji and junior linebacker Josh Barajas returned to practice as well.

Head coach Brian Kelly started off practice telling his team “Nothing changes. We practice the right way.”

It was somewhat of a light day as the offensive, and most of the defensive line were in shorts and shells.

When the Irish defense broke into their opening skeleton drills, Mike Elko was seen busting out some subtle dance moves as the music played.

First-Team Defense
DE: Daelin Hayes
DL: Micah Dew-Treadway
DL: Jerry Tillery
DL: Andrew Trumbetti
Buck: Greer Martini
Mike: Nyles Morgan
Rover: Drue Tranquill
CB: Nick Watkins
S: Devin Studstill
S: Nick Coleman
CB: Julian Love

Second-Team Defense
DE: Julian Okwara
DL: Jon Bonner
DL: Daniel Cage
DE: Jay Hayes
Buck: Tevon Coney
Mike: Jamir Jones
Rover: Asmar Bilal
CB: Donte Vaughn
S: Jalen Elliott
S: Nicco Fertitta
CB: Troy Pride Jr.

As normal, the Irish then broke into positional work. The defensive line was working off firing off the ball and then started to get into a little bit of sled work. Mike Elston was bringing the heat early as he was yelling “Eyes up! Eyes Up! Fire!” on the first drill of the day. The defensive backs and linebackers worked on footwork drills.

The defensive line and linebackers then came together to work on run fits and communication. Todd Lyght’s defensive backs were spending a lot of time working on getting off blocks, taking a good angle, and then making the tackle.

There is a definite emphasis on tackling this spring, and the defensive backs are getting a lot of work each day. The blue donuts were brought out again on Friday, and the defensive backs were working on a variety of different tackling methods.

During the last period of viewing, the offense and defense got together for a little 11-on-11.

Here are how the reps went:

First Team vs. First Team
- Wimbush under center: Playaction crossing route – Incomplete
- Josh Adams inside run
- Wimbush hit Miles Boykin on a slant. Took it 70 yards to the house.
- Wimbush hits perimeter screen to Sanders.
- Tony Jones Jr. outside run.
- Wimbush throws a bomb to Finke but overthrown.

Second-Team vs. Second-Team
- Josh Adams read option
- Ian Book run
- Tony Jones Jr. run
- Book hit KJ Stepherson for a significant gain.

Notes
- After Wimbush had hit Boykin on the long touchdown, he sprinted 70 yards downfield to give his receiver some dap. Then proceeded to sprint back down the field to run the next play.

- 2018 defensive end Thomas Booker was at practice today. Brian Kelly was talking with him for about 15 minutes during stretching. During positional work, Booker was watching the defensive line, and Daelin Hayes came over and gave Booker and his father a hug.

Booker looks the part, and he was glued to the defensive line during the periods we were able to see.