Chris O'Leary Talks Notre Dame Safeties, Transfer Portal Options
The complexion of Notre Dame’s safety room looks a lot different this spring than it has in the last several years. The arrival of Alohi Gilman in 2018 helped shore up a position that had its ups and downs prior to the Navy transfer’s arrival and he addition of Kyle Hamilton the next year boosted it to another stratosphere.
With Hamilton off to the NFL last year, Northwestern transfer Brandon Joseph kept the group together in 2022. Hamilton’s dazzling play was missed, but the play of the group was still solid. There are no Hamiltons or Gilmans in 2023, but Fighting Irish safeties coach Chris O’Leary hasn’t pushed the panic button just yet.
“There’s really not a weak link,” O’Leary said of his current group of safeties. “You look at rooms across the country where you have guys at the bottom, it’s the bottom. For us, I feel really good about the young guys. I feel really good about the guys who have been here. We’ll continue to add a piece here or there, whether it’s in May or after next season, but right now, we have a really good group.”
That group is a little thinner than desired. The Irish added Oklahoma State graduate transfer Thomas Harper, who is now the most experienced safety on the roster, but he is a top nickel option as well.
“He will be a little bit of a hybrid guy,” O’Leary said of Harper. “When you talk about losing TaRiq Bracy, who for us was unbelievable last year in what he did in the slot and blitzing and all that. Harper will fill in there. Clarence Lewis will move some guys around through the season. Harper will be down there and play a little bit of safety for us too.”
Notre Dame’s next most experienced safety is DJ Brown. The graduate student started 10 of 13 games last season and has seen action in 46 games over the past four seasons.
“More than any player I’ve been around, he has the ability to get better every single rep he takes,” O’Leary said of Brown. “It’s really impressive. When you watch his game film through the last three years specifically, every year he has taken a huge step. He knows that. We know that. For him, he knew coming back one more year would allow him a chance, one, to play with a really good team this year and go for a national title, and two, give him the best shot of playing at the next level.
“He’s an extremely smart player,” O’Leary continued. “The plays he makes because of what he sees is about to happen gets faster and faster. He will see things before they happen from the offense where some of us on the sideline are like, ‘Holy cow, that’s an amazing play.’ That’s what I’ve seen from him, and just technique-wise, tackling and making plays on the ball. We focus on making plays on the ball and tackling. Every day, it gets better and better. I feel really good about him.”
Xavier Watts finished last season about as strong as anyone on the defense last season. He came to Notre Dame as a receiver, but moved to safety in 2021. He saw limited action and then cross-trained back at receiver last fall before settling in with a permanent home at safety.
Watts had just six tackles as a reserve through Notre Dame’s first four games last season. But he started the last four games of the season and had 22 tackles in that stretch when injury kept Joseph out of three of the last four games.
“It was never a worry from our end whether he’d be good enough at safety or not. It was more so the numbers on offense and us fighting to keep him over,” O’Leary explained. “I don’t want to say it slowed his process, because it took the time it took. It is what it is. He needed that whole year and a half to turn into what he’s going to be this year.
“He has always had the natural instincts, natural athletic ability, all that, to be a big-time safety,” O’Leary continued. “It just took him a year, year and a half for that light switch to come on and really grasp what we’re doing on defense. To do that at this level in one year is unbelievable when you think about it. To me, that’s all it was.”
Ramon Henderson has seen his share of position changes as well. He was recruited to Notre Dame and started his career as a cornerback after playing more at receiver in high school but moved to safety halfway through his sophomore season in 2021.
He started four games in 2021 when Hamilton was injured and then only had starts against Stanford and USC last fall. Henderson is a versatile, but keeping him in one place may be the key for him next fall.
“He can play both safety spots,” said O’Leary. “We’re trying to calm down where he moves, because we’ve used him so many places. He has played in games at three, four different positions because he’s so talented. Me and (cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens) always say he’s one of the most valuable guys because of what he can do. He can cover anyone on the field. He can go to corner, safety.
“This year, we’re trying to trim it down and make him truly a safety,” O’Leary continued. “That will be field and boundary. Through seven practices, we’ve seen that growth of not worrying about playing nickel, dime or whatever and starting to make plays a safety should make.”
The Fighting Irish have a pair of 4-star early enrollee freshman on campus this spring in Adon Shuler and Ben Minich. Shuler is rehabbing after shoulder surgery, but Minich has been busy with three interceptions (according to DJ Brown) through the first seven practices.
“He’s fast, tough and extremely intelligent,” O’Leary said of Minich. “With those three things, he’s going to be a really good player for us. He has a really good skill set playing the post, breaking on the ball. He might have the most picks this spring for us. He’s going to turn into a good player.”
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said at the start of the spring that the transfer portal could be an option to add to the position. The portal will be open from May 1-15 and how the spring goes will inform the Irish staff on what their needs will be heading into summer workouts.
“It’s evaluating this spring how ready our two-deep was to play on the big stage and push for a national title,” O’Leary said when asked about the possibility of dipping into the portal. “That’s the decision we’re making. Beyond that, we have numbers that we want to get guys to develop. We’re always evaluating that situation. I’ve told them we might look in the portal in May. It just depends. That’s a fluid situation.”
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