Martini and Linebackers Ready to Play Fast

The talk of spring football was about getting back to fundamentals as Notre Dame transitioned to Mike Elko’s defensive scheme. The Irish have had eight months to get to know the new defense and senior linebacker Greer Martini is pleased with the progress his defense has made.

“It allows us to play fast,” Martini said of the new scheme. “We always talk about how complicated defenses slow you down, but with his defense, you know where you are supposed to be, and you go to that gap and play fast.”

The ability to play fast is always a plus, and Notre Dame’s linebackers could gain an advantage from simply knowing what to do in 2017.

“I think that’s the biggest advantage for the linebackers because maybe before we didn’t know where we were supposed to go,” Martini added. “Now, we can kind of finally just go and play.”

The Irish will have a veteran linebacker corps, but the rest of the defense will still have plenty of youth. The 6-foot-3, 236-pounder has specifically focused on bringing the young guys along as he knows that could be the key to a successful season.

“The young guys have to come forward, and we have to bring them along in this camp,” explained Martini. “Installing confidence in the young guys is the hardest part when they haven’t played much football. They will get there, and we will be fine.”

Head coach Brian Kelly saw a lack of leadership in the program a year ago and developing leaders has been a major focus since December.

As one of the captains in 2017, Martini has seen the impact of the new emphasis and believes it will pay dividends in the fall.

“Coach Kelly has given us more opportunities to be leaders,” Martini stated. “With more opportunities, we can connect more with our guys, and the guys trust in us. I think that’s been a big part of the leadership up to this point. We have been given more opportunities to be a vocal leader.

“We have to keep it going and evolving throughout the season. We can’t take a day off.”

When it comes to Fall Camp, Martini and his teammates were itching to get back on the field as they were simply tired of talking and hearing about last season.

“Everyone wanted to get out here,” stated Martini. “Everyone wants to put that behind us, and it’s a new season. Everything is different. There is a different culture. This is our opportunity to come out here as a group and collectively put it together to get some confidence before the first game.”

Martini also knows there will be pressure on his linebacker unit as they are the most experienced and arguably the most talented group on the defensive side of the ball, but he is embracing the pressure.  

“It’s what we want as a linebacker,” said Martini. “We want it all on our shoulders. It can’t be all on our shoulders because we are one of 11 but it’s what we want if this linebacker group is going to take us to a championship.”