Notre Dame Practice Report - March 20

Analysis and observations from the Notre Dame football team during today's spring practice

We only got to see 5 periods today, and honestly they didn't do much during those periods. Will share some of the things I saw from the practice, but it wasn't much. The first period was all PAT-FG, and the defense spent much of the practice working on a tackling circuit. While that is very good to see from a coaching standpoint, it doesn't give us much juicy action for us to write about.

OFFENSE

*** The only team action we saw was a run period where the entire offense was working on run game. Won't get into specific schemes, but definitely some wrinkles that we didn't see on the LSU offense, but we have seen from Mike Denbrock in past years. That tells me he clearly likes his backfield a lot and wants to have a more diverse way of getting them going in the run game. But of course, inside zone was the prominent look today.

*** The first team offensive line left to right:

LT Charles Jagusah
LG Pat Coogan
C Ashton Craig
RG Billy Schrauth
RT Tosh Baker

*** The second team left to right:

LT Sullivan Absher
LG Sam Pendleton
C Joe Otting
RG Rocco Spindler
RT Aamil Wagner

*** It was another non-padded practice, so there's not a lot we can gather from a physicality standpoint, but I did like the quickness shown by the line. Guys like Charles Jagusah, Billy Schrauth and Ashton Craig were especially impressive firing off the ball during the the run period. Schrauth especially good quick and explosive, and he did a much better job keeping his pads low and a good base compared to what we saw in the fall. Pat Coogan looked solid, but he had a pull/kick rep where he really ripped out of his stance with efficient footwork and got to the callside in a hurry. It was one of the quickest actions I've seen him do, which was a positive sign.

*** At running back, the entire group looked explosive today, but Jadarian Price really stood out. His change of direction and suddenness was really, really impressive. He looks like pre-injury Price. On one particular run he got through the line, made back-to-back cuts that made Shaun Davis and I look at each other and just shake our heads. His burst is really special, and that was on full display today. The other backs looked good as well, and we saw some snaps of Price and Jeremiyah Love on the field together. Kedren Young had a couple of decisive runs where he had his vision and agility on display as well.

*** The wide receivers had the most action today since they were going through drills while the rest of the team was going through PAT-FG drills, and during the other special teams and tackling drills. I continue to be impressed with Mike Brown, who went through the same drills we saw before. It's noticeable how efficient the wide receivers are with their movements.

*** He uses a combination of bags on the ground and stand up bags to focus the receivers on the proper technique. The bags on the ground is to make sure the wideouts are getting into good running form and not dragging their feet or shortening their steps as they get near the top end of the route. Often as receivers get to the top end they alter their footwork in preparation of needing to stop, but that's a bad thing because it's a tell to the corners. By having the bags on the ground, the receivers are forced to maintain a proper stride (and even an exaggerated one to get over the bags), which gets them out of the bad habit of altering their footwork as they get close to the top end.

*** The bags standing up are more narrow than I've seen from most receiver coaches. This forces the wideouts to be very sharp getting downhill on stop and comeback routes. They have to be really sharp getting out of the break in order to get through the bag clean. It really forces them to be efficient with their top end footwork and drive back downhill. Really good combination of emphasis on this particular drill, and they've now done it at both practices.

*** The veterans obviously handled this drill the best, but even the rookies looked a little more crisp today. Deion Colzie was moving very well today during drills and on routes. He is coming off the ball well, he's very sharp on his cuts and every time the ball came his way today he attacked it with his hands and caught it clean. Jaden Greathouse continues to improve. His body has reshaped quite a bit since last spring, and he's noticeably quicker off the ball in drill periods and running routes. Cam Williams has a ways to go in terms of learning the necessary technique needed as a receiver, and his route running is that of a player who is thinking more than just playing. That's not unexpected, especially after just two practices. But on the few snaps where he turns it on you can see the juice, and see the explosiveness that makes his future so bright. I was once again impressed with Micah Gilbert. He's a really smooth athlete and he's built like a veteran.

*** At quarterback we really only saw them going through drills and throwing some short passes during the team period. It seemed as though they were only pulling and throwing RPOs in those situations. CJ Carr had the best looking throws today during drills. He's really confident in his drops, gets the ball out quickly and accurately, he has a bit more zip on throws than he did in December. Riley Leonard was pretty sharp today as well in the reps I saw, but with all the quarterbacks there wasn't much to learn from what we saw today outside of just how they throw and how they move.

DEFENSE

*** The defense spent the entire practice going through drills, as was stated above. They did break into positions for drills and teaching, but there were no team periods. *** Rod Heard and Gabriel Rubio were both at practice today. Neither is practicing this spring because they aren't enrolled, but it was good to see both at practice.

*** When they broke into individual periods, special teams coordinator Marty Biagi took the safeties. For much of the practice he had Marcus Freeman also over there helping out, but Biagi was very active, vocal and looked comfortable leading the safeties through drills. Freeman was making coaching points with players, but he was letting Biagi run that drill. That allowed Mickens to spend his time with the cornerbacks during individual periods.

*** There was a lot of focus on proper angles to the ball, good base and driving through contact. They went through different stations during the tackling circuit focusing on different aspects. Al Golden was doing a lot of barking today. With the players coming off spring break it looks like the Irish DC was making sure guys were locked in and quickly getting up to speed. Al Washington was also getting on his DL throughout practice for similar things, putting up the focus and intensity.

*** Today was our first action of Jordan Clark. He's on the small side, but he's put together well, he plays confidently and he's very vocal. We didn't get to see him opening up and running, but his initial foot quickness and change of direction was good. Sophomore safety Adon Shuler caught my eye once again. He needs to continue working on angles, but he got downhill quickly and his overall movement and pop on the bags was impressive.

*** Up front, RJ Oben was a lot more active today going through drills. He doesn't look as tall or as big as I thought he would be, but he moves really well. He's a very active defender, shows a good first step and his ability to plant and re-direct in drills was good. The most explosive guy today up front, in the reps that I saw, was Josh Burnham. He seems to be handling the extra weight well so far and he really comes off the line impressively and he shows really good punch in drills. Inside, sophomore Brenan Vernon was very active. He plays with such a high motor, and he was impressive when working vertically today.

*** I didn't watch the linebackers much did, but when I did I continue to be impressed with how athletic Jaiden Ausberry is. Everything he does is quick and explosive.

SPECIAL TEAMS

*** Transfer kicker Mitch Jeter definitely lacks the pop of past kickers like Spencer Shrader and Blake Grupe. The ball doesn't come off with the same loud thud. But what I like is he has a very clean, quick and repeatable motion and his accuracy as a placekicker is very, very good. 

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