Notre Dame Needs A Specific Plan For Kevin Austin

Notre Dame needs to make junior receiver Kevin Austin a focal part of the offense as soon as he gets back on the field

If things continue to go as planned, Notre Dame fans will see junior Kevin Austin back on the football field for the first time in almost two years. After playing very little as a freshman and not playing at all in 2019, Austin is expected to return to the lineup and give it a much-needed big-play boost.

In his most recent interview, head coach Brian Kelly was adamant that Austin would be limited from a reps standpoint. Considering he was out for well over a month after fracturing his foot in July, and considering that he missed the entire 2019 campaign, it makes sense that Austin would be limited in his first game back.

That raises one of two very important questions about Austin. How much can he play, and what kind of impact can he truly make. While Kelly was reserved about Austin from a snaps standpoint against Florida State, he wasn’t shy about talking about Austin’s talent.

“Explosive, rangy, outstanding ball skills and a guy that can open up the game,” Kelly said about the junior wideout. “He can take the top off of coverages, he can catch it and go the distance, and he can win one-on-one matchups; a guy that would be nice to get on the field for us.”

There is no doubt that Austin is talented. He’s arguably the most talented receiver on the roster, and I’m not sure you’d find many takers willing to actually make that argument. He was the nation’s No. 82 overall player on the 247Sports composite ranking, and his combination of size (6-2, 210) and athleticism is hard to find.

Getting him back into the rotation is great, but Notre Dame must now come up with a plan to get him involved in the offense. It can’t be about just getting him reps, the coaches must be intentional about working Austin specifically into the game plan.

For the coaches, there are four steps to getting Austin involved as quickly as possible. Doing so could completely change the scope of the Irish offense, although it won’t happen in game one.

Step One — Get His Feet Wet

In the video above, which came from Kelly’s Monday press conference, the Irish head coach made it clear that Austin’s snaps would be limited. It will likely take Austin at least two games to get his game legs where they need to be, so I would expect him to be on a “modified” snap count for at least two more games.

By the time Austin finally does get to the point where he can physically play a full game he needs to already have plenty of touches under his belt.

That means offensive coordinator Tommy Rees needs to make sure that when Austin is in the game on Saturday, and the following week against Louisville, that he designs plays for him. Austin needs touches, and it can’t just be a situation where they hope it comes within the normal flow of the offense.

Within the first three to four plays that Austin is in the game there needs to be a deep shot thrown his way. He needs at least one screen or quick game call where he is the primary read. There needs to be at least one back shoulder thrown to him in this game.

Not doing what it takes to ensure Austin gets multiple targets against Florida State would be a coaching mistake, and a missed opportunity.

Step Two — Move Him Around

It doesn’t necessarily need to happen in game one, but relatively soon the Irish need to figure out a way to move Austin around. He’s the kind of talent that if he’s going good it forces defenses to key on him. If he’s playing just one position, whether it be the boundary W position or the field X position, it makes it easier to key on him. It also limits who the staff can complement him with.

Moving Austin around not only makes it easier to design touches for him, it gives Rees more flexibility in using him to influence the defense in a way to set up other players like Braden Lenzy and tight end Tommy Tremble, and to protect the run game. Of course, when defenses are keying players like Tremble or Lenzy, having Austin moving around gives Rees more options on how to use that to get him touches.

Step Three — Make Him A Game Plan Focal Point

I don’t expect Austin to become the center of the offense in the way Chase Claypool was last season. Is he talented enough to be that guy? Sure, but Austin hasn’t played in awhile and expecting that in 2020 would be unfair.

That doesn’t mean he can’t, and shouldn’t become a focal point of the offense. As I alluded to in step two, the better Austin is the better it is for his teammates. By making him a focal point of the game plan each week you force defenses to key on him, which opens up opportunities for the other players on the roster.

Of course, it also makes sense to make one of your more dynamic and talented players a focal point of the offense for the sake of getting him the ball as much as possible.

Step Four — Make An Austin, Lenzy, Tremble Package A Regular Things

The final piece to the return of Austin is Rees and the offensive staff finding ways to ensure that the most explosive players on the roster are on the field together as much as possible. That means making sure that at least three of Austin, Lenzy, Tremble, wideout Lawrence Keys III and running back Chris Tyree are on the field together as often as possible.

There is simply too much firepower on the roster to not use it, use it often and use it together. Getting more explosive pass game weapons on the field together, and playing to their strengths, would also make it very difficult for defenses to key on the run game.

I would love to throw Xavier Watts and Jordan Johnson into that conversation, but we know they won’t get their shot to be impact players until they meet some arbitrary and unnecessarily high standard that is placed on freshmen wideouts that doesn’t exist at other big time programs.

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