Practice Report: Day One
Notre Dame was back on the field on Tuesday afternoon, and Irish Sports Daily was on hand to see about 30 minutes of practice.
Head coach Brian Kelly made his way around stretching lines talking to various players. Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa was a guy he spent a decent amount of time around.
Mike McGlinchey and Durham Smythe were in the building, but Jahmir Smith, Ovie Oghoufo, Jack Lamb and Bo Bauer were not present as they had to take care of some academics.
Nic Weishar was not participating but was working harder than anyone going through some conditioning drills on the sideline as he recovers from shoulder surgery.
The first-team offense consisted of the following:
QB – Brandon Wimbush
RB – Dexter Williams
WR – Michael Young
WR – Chris Finke
WR – Miles Boykin
TE – Alizè Mack
LT – Robert Hainsey
LG – Josh Lugg
C – Sam Mustipher
RG – Alex Bars
RT – Tommy Kraemer
The second-team offense was:
QB – Ian Book
RB – Tony Jones Jr.
WR – Javon McKinley
WR – Jafar Armstrong
WR – Chase Claypool
TE – Brock Wright
LT – Aaron Banks
LG – Colin Grunhard
C – Trevor Ruhland
RG – Dillan Gibbons
RT – Liam Eichenberg
I got most of the defensive two-deep but missed a few guys as I was getting the offense at the same time. The first-team defense was:
DE – Daelin Hayes
DT – Jerry Tillery
DT – Jon Bonner
DE – Jay Hayes
LB – Te’von Coney
LB – Drue Tranquill
Rover – Asmar Bilal
CB – Troy Pride Jr.
CB – Julian Love
S – Nick Coleman
S – Jordan Genmark Heath
Second-Team
DE – Julian Okwara
DT – Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa
DT – Kurt Hinish
DE – Khalid Kareem
LB – DJ Morgan
LB – Jonathan Jones
Rover – Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
CB – Shaun Crawford
CB – Nick Watkins
S – Alohi Gilman
S – Nicco Fertitta
The third-team defense had Ade Ogundeji, Darnell Ewell, Micah Dew-Treadway and Kofi Wardlow on the defensive line. Drew White was at linebacker with Isaiah Robertson at rover. Donte Vaughn and Houston Griffith at cornerback.
Notre Dame then broke into positional drills. The defensive line was working on sled drills and bag drills. Mike Elston was very vocal throughout the day making sure his guys got the rust off in practice No. 1.
The cornerbacks worked on playing the ball from various angles and against different routes. The safeties were working on footwork, breaks and attacking the ball. The linebackers started off with Clark Lea’s famous footwork drills that look boring as heck from the sideline but have paid off on Saturday’s.
On offense, quarterbacks and receivers worked on the short passing game. The running backs then started to work on agility and footwork drills, while the receivers and tight ends worked on blocking. The offense line did offensive line things.
Early enrollee cornerback Houston Griffith looks like a natural. He looks college ready physically and moves effortlessly across the field. I’m sure he’s done these drills thousands of times, but he didn’t look out of place or nervous at all.
Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah still looks a little thin and light, but he moves at a different speed than any other linebacker. He’s explosive and quick in every movement.
Brandon Wimbush and Avery Davis looked good. Both players were ripping the ball all over the field, which was something we didn’t see enough of from Davis in the fall but that comes with being comfortable.
Davis also worked at receiver in 1-on-1 drills, and explosive would be the word I would use. He smoked Nicco Fertitta on his first rep down the middle and would have scored a touchdown in a game. He dropped one later on, but in the two reps we saw of him at receiver, he looked more than capable.
Here’s how the one-on-one reps finished.
Brandon Wimbush
Incomplete - Miles Boykin vs. Julian Love
Complete – Chris Finke vs. Nick Coleman – Was a bomb
Complete – Tony Jones Jr. vs. Jordan Genmark Heath – Jones shook him out of his socks
Complete – Michael Young vs. Troy Pride Jr.
Incomplete – Miles Boykin vs. Houston Griffith
Complete – Chris Finke vs. Devin Studstill
Incomplete – Michael Young vs. Donte Vaughn
Complete – Miles Boykin vs. Julian Love
Incomplete – Chris Finke vs. Alohi Gilman
Incomplete – Tony Jones Jr. vs Chris Schilling
Ian Book
Complete – Javon McKinley vs. Nick Watkins
Incomplete – Jafar Armstrong vs. Alohi Gilman
Complete – Avery Davis vs. Nicco Fertitta
Complete – WR vs. Shaun Crawford
Complete – Javon McKinley vs. Temitop Agoro
Complete – Jafar Armstrong vs. Nick Coleman
Incomplete – Avery Davis vs. Nicco Fertitta – Drop by Davis
Incomplete – Michael Young vs. Donte Vaughn
Avery Davis
Incomplete – Tony Jones Jr. vs. Jordan Genmark Heath
Complete – Javon McKinley vs. Nick Watkins
Overall, the team looked impressive physically. There wasn’t one guy that looked overly out of shape. There are always going to be linemen on both sides of the ball that can get in better shape, but nothing was concerning as there had been in the past.
Jerry Tillery wasn’t overly vocal but was more vocal than he had been in the past.
Standouts of the Day
QB Avery Davis: Davis got reps at receiver and was impressive. The explosion he showed on his first rep beating Nicco Fertitta downfield was impressive. Davis also threw the ball with more confidence and velocity.
WR Michael Young: Young was flying around on the field and looks bigger than in the fall. He's a big play waiting to happen. Young is confident and it shows.
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah: He might be the best overall athlete on the team. He moves quicker than quick and is extremely explosive.
Quote of the Day
“I’m not shocked that looked good.” – Mike Elston to DE Ade Ogundeji after a rep in a drill