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Notre Dame Football

Elliott Recaps Impressive Spring

April 28, 2017
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Jalen Elliott found himself on the field sooner than he probably even expected during his freshman year. The 6-foot, 208-pounder played a significant role in the Notre Dame secondary in 2016, and there were some tough growing pains for the Virginia native, but Elliott sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s always tough being thrown into the fire, but it helps you with the speed of the game and getting used to that,” Elliott stated. “The speed of the game has slowed down for me, and I feel more comfortable.”

Despite being on campus less than a year, Elliott finds himself under the direction of his third defensive coordinator in Mike Elko. The message from Elko has been a simple one for the safety position, and one Elliott has embraced.

“It’s been huge,” Elliott said of the presence of Elko. “He is teaching us the game from the up and allowing us to run in the scheme. It’s been that way for the whole defense and not just us at safety.

“It’s the technique, and Coach Elko doesn’t let us slide when we miss the technique. He makes sure we go over it and rep it. We are trusting the process. We are trying to be the best we can be each and every day.”

The safety position had major question marks heading into the spring, but Elliott believes they are headed down the right path.

“The safeties as a whole have a lot of confidence in each other,” he explained. “It’s not really about me, but it’s about the unit. That’s the big thing we have preached this spring. We want to be a unit.”  

Elliott is focused on continuing to see progress in the offseason, and it starts with tackling and trusting the coaches.

“My mindset is about making sure I do everything I can to help the team,” stated Elliott. “I want to trust everything Coach Kelly and the defensive staff put in front of us.

“There is something with tackling every day. We are working on it with the donuts and working on fits. For the most part, we had our bases too wide and weren’t able to step out. We have been working on that and not working on flinching. We want to see what we hit and keep our heads up.”

In this first year for the Irish, Elliott recorded 13 tackles, but in the Blue-Gold Game, the sophomore registered a game-high seven tackles, an interception, and one pass breakup.  

“There is nothing like it,” Elliott said of playing in Notre Dame Stadium. “Notre Dame has the best fans in college football. It was great to get out there and go against each other.”

Elliott also made sure to give credit to his teammate for the interception he returned 28 yards.  

“It was great,” he laughed. “It was a great play by Nick Coleman, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

As Notre Dame heads into the offseason, the team has more confidence, and that comes from hard work in the weight room. Elliott and his teammates have seen the differences in the new program and now will get a chance to improve even more.  

“It changed everybody,” said Elliott. “Coach Balis pushed us and got everything out of everyone.

“It was a big difference in just feeling better on the field. I knew 190 wasn’t going to cut it, so getting up in the 205 range felt good. I really feel the difference.”
 
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