3 Big Questions on Defense
Normally the questions on the defensive side of the ball before the season feel like they are make or break for the Irish. This year it’s a little bit different.
The floor for this defense is very high. With so much experience returning, including four players that had breakout seasons in 2017, there isn’t much debate as to whether the defense will be good or not. The more appropriate question is, how good can they be?
That’s what the focus of three big questions on defense is about. Can good become great? If the answer is positive for the following questions, then great should be a given.
How Will Clark Lea Handle Being the DC?
There is no doubt that promoting Lea rather than hiring an established defensive coordinator away from another program was a bit of a risk. It could end up being a homerun. With Lea’s reputation for meticulous preparation and the way he adjusts his coaching style to fit his players, it would be surprising if it doesn’t work out well in the long term.
But what about the short term? Will there be growing pains with him as a play-caller? Will he be able to adjust quickly within a game? How is he going to handle being up and the box as opposed to down on the field?
With some coaches these things click right away. With others it takes time to adapt to the new role before they feel completely comfortable. Considering the fact that Notre Dame has Michigan out of the gate, there won't be much time for him to adapt.
Lea needs to be ready right away. If he is, then the pieces are in place for the defense to have a dominant start to the season.
Is There a Playmaker at Safety?
The no interception thing is always going to be a talking point for the safeties until a safety makes an interception in a game. That will happen at some point this fall and that’s not a big concern.
What’s more pressing is finding a player, or a combination of players, that can make plays that impact the game at safety. Mike Elko helped make the safeties a more consistent presence on the back end, but if the safety play is the same this year under Terry Joseph, it would be disappointing.
Notre Dame’s defense could go to another level if they had a player who made teams fearful of throwing in the middle of the field. I’m not just talking about big hits. It’s more about making plays on the ball and the production wasn’t good enough in that department.
That’s precisely why Alohi Gilman may be the most intriguing player on the roster. He was a difference maker for Navy as a freshman and he looked like that same player in the Blue-Gold game at Notre Dame. If it’s him, a veteran who starts to have everything click for him, or even a true freshman like Houston Griffith, it doesn’t matter.
The staff would love to see someone (or multiple players) bring something more to the table at safety. If it happens it can change the dynamic of the defense in a really big way.
Will an All-American Candidate Emerge on the D-line?
It finally happened for Jerry Tillery where flash turned into substance during his junior season. He had a great year and his decision to come back as a senior was huge for the defense as a whole. Now we’ll see if a move to 3-technique can take his game to another level. He played really well, but is he capable of becoming a truly dominant factor on the interior in a more showcased role? It would be massive if that could happen because despite how good the Irish defense was at times last year, they lacked a disruptive presence up front to make them great.
Tillery could be that guy. Even if he is simply good and not great, there are other candidates who could make the leap into All-American candidates. Khalid Kareem, Daelin Hayes, and Julian Okwara are extremely talented, but aren’t names that any college football fan that doesn’t follow Notre Dame would know about. If that changes then it’s going to make the entire defense better.
Notre Dame has All-American caliber players at linebacker and cornerback. Having one or two up front could make the defense even better than the one the Irish fielded in 2012.