Notre Dame's Returning Coaches Must Thrive In 2022
Much of the focus this offseason has been on the ascension of Marcus Freeman to head coach and the massive staff turnover. That means the seven new assistant coaches and the big name graduate assistants have garnered much of the attention, and for good reason.
But Notre Dame returns three assistant coaches from last year's team, and that trio has arguably an even more important role to success in 2022 than the newcomers, for different reasons. How well they handle the season will go a long way towards determining whether or not Notre Dame can be a championship contender in 2022.
All three are at important positions with major questions, and their ability to develop the depth chart is key.
TOMMY REES
Rees tops the list because he has two very, very important roles. Rees has to develop an explosive and dynamic offense in his capacity as the offensive coordinator. He also has to reverse the twelve-year struggle to develop quarterbacks that has weighed Notre Dame down.
Notre Dame showed flashes of being that kind of offense during the second half of the 2021 season, as the Irish averaged 40.2 points per game, 509 yards of offense per game and 7.5 yards per play in the final six games of the season. Those numbers would have ranked 6th, 4th and 3rd nationally if expanded out through the entire season.
Rees now has a significantly upgraded coaching staff around him, and it is his responsibility to embrace that group and get everyone working on the same page. If that happens this unit has a chance to be outstanding in 2022.
Of course, none of that is possible if Rees isn't able to get the quarterback position figured out. I'll have more tomorrow on the opportunity that Rees has as a quarterbacks coach in 2022, but he needs to get Tyler Buchner going and develop the entire depth chart if the Irish are going to have a shot to compete for a title this season.
MIKE MICKENS
Arguably no position on the roster is a bigger question mark than cornerback, and it means Mickens has a big task in front of him. The cornerback position hasn't exactly been a strength of the defense the last two seasons, but I'd argue Mickens has actually done a really good job getting the units to perform on the level they have.
Mickens has had to battle recruiting issues that existed before he arrived, but he's battled through and the units have been at least solid the last two seasons. Now, Mickens has a much more experienced depth chart and he'll have two classes on the roster that he recruited.
His first task is getting Cam Hart to play to his full potential. Hart flashed big-time potential last season, and now the goal is to get him to be even more productive on the football, more consistent with his technique and more consistent with his execution as a player.
His second task is getting the rest of the depth chart on track. Fifth-year senior TaRiq Bracy and junior Clarence Lewis have to both improve their games. Mickens also needs to get at least one of his sophomores (Ryan Barnes, Chance Tucker, Philip Riley) and one of his freshmen (Benjamin Morrison, Jaden Mickey) to force their way into key roles this season.
There is actually depth and talent on the roster this season, and it's the healthiest place the cornerback position has been since at least the 2019 season, if not all the way back to 2018. Mickens getting this group to play at a higher level than it did the last two seasons will make this defense much, much better.
CHRIS O'LEARY
I was quite impressed with the job O"Leary did last season. A case could be made that Notre Dame's safeties played better after All-American Kyle Hamilton went down with an injury in game seven. It's not because Hamilton went down, it was more about O'Leary getting the rest of the depth chart to improve their overall play.
His task is to get All-American transfer Brandon Joseph to make a smooth transition, and so far so good in that area. The next is to get his veterans to play better (Houston Griffith, DJ Brown). The reality is at times both Griffith and Brown were liabilities last season. When they are on they are at least solid players, and they need to be on week-after-week. If the veterans play to their ability the safety position will be quite good.
Going from quite good to a strength of the defense depends on O'Leary being able to get rising juniors Ramon Henderson and Xavier Watts rolling. A case could be made that Henderson and Watts are clearly the two most athletic safeties on the roster, but both have been at the position for less than a year.
There is potential at safety, but that potential needs to turn into production, and with Ohio State as the opener, it needs to happen immediately.
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