Notre Dame Football Spring Preview: Defense Edition

Irish Breakdown dives into a pre-spring look at the Notre Dame offense, which has high expectations for 2024

Notre Dame kicks off spring practice this week and the Irish defense will have a new look. There is a new-look coaching staff despite the return of all but one position coach. There will be a new look linebacker unit and secondary. There are questions about the defense, and whether or not it will take a step forward - or a step back - in 2024.

Today's Irish Breakdown show previewed the Notre Dame defense as it looks to establish itself as one of the best units in college football. Notre Dame will look to show that dominant defense is something this program is about and not just a one-off in 2024.

In part one of the show we discuss why there are still questions that remain about defensive coordinator Al Golden and whether or not he can build dominant defenses on a regular basis. Was the 2024 season about the experience the team had, or is this who Golden is and what he'll continue to build? We also discuss the heavy losses on this side of the ball.

Part two of the show looks at the biggest storylines for the spring, and we continue our conversation about the coaching staff. There are big losses at linebacker, and we discuss how that unit will go a long way towards determining if this defense can keep building, or if it takes a step back. We also discuss the secondary and defensive line, and whether or not those units can be even better in 2024 thanks to the return of All-American candidates Benjamin Morrison and Xavier Watts in the secondary, and Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills up front. The potential youth movement on defense is also a topic of conversation.

There are plenty of position battles that will take place, and we break them all down. Linebacker is at the top of the list, and we discuss all the participants, and how who wins those battles will impact how Golden can use veteran Jack Kiser in his final season. We also discuss the importance of the cornerback battle between Christian Gray and Jaden Mickey, and how the winner of that battle will impact the rest of the defense. We also break down the defensive end battles and the safety battles.

In the final section we rank the five position groups on the Irish defense. After breaking those down we also put the offense and defense together for a final pre-spring position ranking.

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Irish Breakdown Content

2024 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2024 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2024 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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