Notre Dame Notebook: Chris O'Leary Talks Antonio Carter, Xavier Watts, Nickel Battle

Fighting Irish safeties coach Chris O'Leary discusses several of his players' training camp performances

Notre Dame’s secondary has undergone a bit of an offseason makeover. The Fighting Irish added a pair of graduate transfers as well as a handful of quality freshmen to the unit since they last played in the Gator Bowl last December.

The Irish are looking for big early returns from the likes of Rhode Island transfer Antonio Carter. He started at cornerback for two years for the Rams but has made his move to safety at Notre Dame look relatively easy so far.

"He’s made it look easy because he’s a smart football player,” Irish safeties coach Chris O’Leary said of Carter. "He’s making calls in the box that I would never expect a corner to understand because he gets it. Some of the middle-open coverages and things like that he still has to take that step because he’s not used to being back there, but that’s nothing that I didn’t expect.”

O’Leary noted the "violence” and hard-hitting nature Carter plays with. Carter is also part of the defense’s three-safety "Aztec” package.

No More Xavier Watts Experiments

A year ago at this time, Xavier Watts was a former wide receiver who entered camp as a safety, but cross-trained at receiver due to injuries and lack of depth on the offensive side of the ball. The receiver experiment ended once the season started and he has been solely a safety ever since.

Watts ultimately played in all 13 games at safety last season, with starts in Notre Dame’s final four games. He finished with 39 tackles and three pass breakups.

"I’m just excited,” O’Leary proclaimed about Watts. "I can’t wait to watch what he does this year. This is going to be his breakout year and he’s put in the work for now 2½-3 years and you can see it in his game. He’s doing things that you coach level two, level three of safety play and he’s starting to get into those in live situations so he’s going to make a lot of plays. He’s twitchy and he’s going to strike. He’s going to have a big year for us.”

Versatile Thomas Harper

Oklahoma State transfer Thomas Harper is primarily at the nickel position, the position he played with the Cowboys. His base position is listed at safety, and his ability to play there as well gives the defense versatility. O’Leary says the nickel battle between Harper and Clarence Lewis has been intense.

"Both of those guys we see as starters because of the way they play the game,” O’Leary said of Harper and Lewis. "That’s been the biggest competition of fall camp.”

Notre Dame will use its nickel package quite a bit this season and Harper will be a big part of it.

“When you’re a nickel team, teams try you in the alley with perimeter play, screens, all that,” O’Leary explained. "So that’s the first thing you have to be able to stop. (Harper’s) nickel skills, that’s the first thing you see but you also see him snagging off blocks and making tackles, blitzing with just twitch and violence. That’s an element that he’s going to bring to our team this year that’s going to be fun to watch.”

DJ Brown’s Last Go-Round

Safety DJ Brown is more than a veteran, he is a veteran-plus. The Annapolis, Md. native has played in 47 career games, which is just one fewer than quarterback Sam Hartman, entering his sixth season on the Irish defense.

"Year six, man,” O’Leary began. “I just expect him to go to another level. Be a consistent player but also do things that separate us on defense, whether it’s getting into checks, whether it’s disguising stuff and breaking on the ball down the field — like, he’s going to bait some quarterbacks into throws they don’t want to make. Being year six, you’re working on stuff that are like Level 500 for a safety, but that’s what he’s going to bring and he’s going to make some plays.”

On Ramon Henderson

Senior Ramon Henderson gives the Irish another experienced safety who, like Watts, moved around positionally early in his career. He was a corner/nickel back before moving to safety and played in 24 of a possible 26 games of the last two seasons. His time as a safety is more and more apparent.

"It’s calmed him down a little bit,” O’Leary explained. "He’s really specialized now and it’s allowed him to play fast and focus on his techniques more so than ‘What’s my job at this and this?’ think he’ll be a really good weapon for us back there, roaming around and using his range.”

On The Freshmen

Freshman safeties Adon Shuler and Ben Minich have both had their moments as well. Both enrolled early last spring, but both had injuries that kept them off the field. Shuler had shoulder surgery while Minich suffered a hand injury after some good early flashes during spring practice.

"Ben was in a really good spot,” O’Leary remarked. "He got hurt halfway through spring. He came back for fall camp and now he’s been hurt for three-four practices, but when he’s out there he shows flashes with his speed and his football instincts and knowledge. He’s going to be a really good player.

"Adon has flashed,” O’Leary continued. "Probably the most for us, whether that’s playing the post and picking the ball off or filling the alley. He’s a really good football player and he’s going to play for us really soon.”

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