Notre Dame opened up fall camp on Wednesday morning in the muggy but breezy South Bend sunshine as Marcus Freeman kicks off his second year in charge of the Fighting Irish. Here are all of the important updates from the workout done in helmets and shorts only.
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Freeman immediately addressed the departure of strength coach Matt Balis. He was called by Balis this week and tried to convince him to stay but the coach said he could not stating he “could not serve the players in the way he wanted” due to a personal matter.
Interim S&C coach Fred Hale will be in consideration for the permanent position with Freeman saying the culture between the strength program and the head coach has to be the same.
Freeman will be challenging defensive coordinator Al Golden to develop the young linebackers as the veteran players at this position can do it all.
Freshman wide receiver KK Smith had shoulder surgery and will be out a couple months. That’s a guaranteed redshirt for him.
OFFENSE
The program will not be looking into adding a grad transfer at quarterback for 2023 per Freeman with the departure of Tyler Buchner to Alabama, instead investing in freshman Kenny Minchey and redshirt freshman Steve Angeli.
The offense worked a lot on red zone and Hartman struggled at time with the excellent defensive back play. Angeli was more productive as the 2nd-team receivers were stressing the backup corners. Braylon James and Jaden Greathouse stood out.
As expected, Billy Schrauth (LG) and Andrew Kristofic (RG) worked with the 1st-team on the offensive line joining Joe Alt (LT), Zeke Correll (C), and Blake Fisher (RT).
The second offensive line unit consisted of LT Tosh Baker, LG Rocco Spindler, C Ashton Craig, RG Pat Coogan, and RT Aamil Wagner. The third unit was Sullivan Absher (LT), Sam Pendleton (LG), Quinn Murphy (C), Ty Chan (RG), and Charles Jagusah (RT) which leaves Michael Carmody, Joe Otting, and Chris Terek outside. Veteran lineman Carmody not being more involved raises eyebrows.
Video | Notre Dame Football Practice Clips 7.26https://t.co/JBMjn9WTon
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreemanISD) July 26, 2023
Lots of media commented that Chris Tyree looked awfully comfortable running routes and catching passes as a receiver. The official roster has him as a RB/WR but it was all receiver on Wednesday.
As expected, Audric Estime took it easy as he enters the no. 1 back role and doesn’t need extra mileage in late July. It was only 1 day but Jadarian Price was getting a lot of reps and wasn’t showing any lingering effects from his Achilles injury last year.
New freshman running back Jeremiyah Love stood out for his speed and that was mentioned early in Freeman’s press conference, too.
Coming off injury, tight end Kevin Bauman got some work but was held back a bit during team work. Also, tight end Eli Raridon was participating but did not do any team work. Holden Staes received the brightest reviews out of everyone at this position.
DEFENSE
No defensive players sat out the practice or worked individually on the sidelines due to injury. Hooray!
The defensive line top 4 units rolled out as such:
Jordan Botelho (WDE), Rylie Mills (DT), Howard Cross (NG), and NaNa Osafo-Mensah (SDE)
Junior Tuihalamaka (WDE), Gabe Rubio (DT), Jason Onye (NG), and Javontae Jean-Baptiste (SDE)
Josh Burnham (WDE), Donovan Hinish (DT), Aidan Keanaaina (NG), and Tyson Ford (SDE)
Boubacar Traore (WDE), Armel Mukam (DT), Devan Houstan (NG), and Brenan Vernon (SDE)
The media noted that Ford rotated between SDE and the interior.
The linebackers came out with the 1st-team including Jack Kiser at Will and Marist Liufau at Rover–of course JD Bertrand was holding things down at Mike.
An interesting backup linebacker corps included Nolan Ziegler (Mike), Jaylen Sneed (Will), and Drayk Bowen (Rover). Although, Sneed is working at Rover, too. I think we’re slowly moving towards playing almost exclusively without 3 linebackers on the field.
Freeman said in his press conference that veteran corner Cam Hart has “made a huge jump this summer” which if anything is great news so far about his off-season shoulder surgery.
Benjamin Morrison was getting rave reviews covering Jayden Thomas. Jaden Mickey was also one of the day’s standouts, as well.
Oklahoma State grad transfer Thomas Harper worked exclusively at nickel with no work at safety. Clarence Lewis also worked a little bit at nickel behind Harper.
The 1st-team safeties were Xavier Watts and DJ Brown. Later, Ramon Henderson and then Rhode Island transfer Antonio Carter started rotating in with the top group.
Preferred walk-on freshman Luke Talich from Wyoming was repping with the 3rd-team safeties and has some good size (see below).
OTHER NEWS
Jaden Greathouse, Jadarian Price, Matt Salerno, Jeremiyah Love, Gi’Bran Payne, and Jaden Mickey were taking punt return duties.
There’s lots of talk about captains coming from the group of line leaders to start practice. If so, it’ll be picks from Chris Tyree, Sam Hartman, Joe Alt, Kevin Bauman, Zeke Correll, Rylie Mills, NaNa Osafo-Mensah, JD Bertrand, Cam Hart, and DJ Brown. Last year they picked 3 from each side of the ball. Bertrand will be a two-time captain and I’ll guess he’ll be joined by Hart and Mills. On offense, I’ll guess Tyree, Alt, and Hartman.
Some updated heights and weights that caught my attention:
Gi’Bran Payne up to 208 pounds, that’s a lot of weight for a back that I mentally view as on the smaller side.
Marist Liufau is the heaviest linebacker at 239 pounds.
Jeremiyah Love is just a tick under 6’0″ and weighs 197 pounds.
Braylon James continues to add muscle and is up to 202 pounds.
True freshman corner Micah Bell comes in at a smaller 5’9″ 1/2 and 173 pounds which isn’t unexpected.
Fellow true freshman Adon Shuler has good size at 208 points and nearly 6’0″ tall.
Linebacker Jaiden Ausberry is up to a respectable 224 pounds.
The aforementioned walk-on Luke Talich is just under 6’4″ and weighs 198 pounds. Rangy!
Boubacar Traore is a little on the light side at 237 pounds.
Blake Fisher “only” weighs 310 pounds.
Coming off knee surgery I assume freshman offensive lineman Charles Jagusah is not in great shape right now. He’s massive at just over 6’7″ and 330 pounds! Classmate Sullivan Absher is also a big boy at nearly 6’7″ and 326 pounds.
Aamil Wagner is slowing packing on the weight and is up to 288 pounds.
Freshman offensive lineman Joe Otting is very light at 264 pounds. Carlo Calabrese weighed more than that at Notre Dame. Perhaps Matt Balis’ last request was 3 giant protein shakes a day for Otting.
Freshman tight end Cooper Flanagan is listed at a beefy 262 pounds and almost 6’6″ which is large.
I’m really interested to see how Joe Rudolph handles the line this year, especially after the shaky starts the past couple seasons. The tackles are obviously rock solid, and that makes his job so much easier. But that interior O Line seems to be a major question mark. A first year starter and two guys who likely aren’t future NFL draft picks, with only one highly rated recruit behind them in the 2nd unit. Having Estime running behind them can certainly cover up flaws, and starting with a soft schedule helps as well.
But if ND isn’t dominating on the ground in those first 4 games, how quickly does Rudolph go to Spindler or somebody else? As excited as I am about Hartman (extremely excited), I would imagine Freeman will be looking for at least 150+ rushing yards in each of the first two games.
Otting is 2 pounds heavier than Cooper Flannagan. Heistand is a legitimate fortune teller if he saw Otting getting big enough to play at ND
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvLfwpGMspB/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
From Irish Sports Daily IG, Jagusah looks like he’s carrying it really well, not doughy or like he needs to totally reshape his body (Absher on the other hand probably could use the time in that regard more, but also a very large human). The 330 part for Jagusah is what is hard to believe, did they weigh him in full gear and cleats? Looks like a monster.
I hope Talich shows out, still under 85 could he get a scholarship now? I’d hate to chance losing a big safety. If he’s actually decent, I was thinking he probably projects at this point to be more likely to contribute and see the field in 2026-2027 than anyone they will sign at safety this upcoming cycle. (Apologies to Johnson, but raw athletes without a ton of position experience don’t always hit..)
I thought the same thing looking at that pic of Jagusah. Might be built similar to Fisher, who came in at 6’6 335. He was (and still is) massive, but was also obviously fit enough to play week 1. Jag will probably trim down, like Fisher, but as you mention looks a lot less doughy than most freshman OL.
Also, was trying to find old rosters for Ht/Wt and ISD has one that’s much easier to navigate between seasons than the official ND roster: https://irishsportsdaily.com/notre-dame-football/roster/2023. Might be helpful for people.
When do pre-season AP/Coaches polls come out?
I find them helpful at least in looking ahead to the best games for the 1st week or two.
AP comes out usually right in the middle of August.
Thanks! That seems about right. I’m usually eager for it around now as I look forward to the good matchups the first couple of weeks and feel like I have to wait “forever” for them.
Our LBs must look invisible behind the beefy DL this year. Our run D should at least be stouter.
Last year we had Ja. A (253), Ju. A (285), Mills (292), Foskey (265) – total of 1,095 lbs, with Smith (310), Cross (276), Botelho (250), Nana (250), and Rubio (295). I think that is basically everyone who contributed.
Now we’ve got Botelho (264), Mills (306), Cross (288), Nana (264) for an extra 130 lbs (basically Otting). Plus Rubio (306), Onye (294), JJB (260), JR (254) in the 2 deep. AND a 3rd string with at least Ford and Burnham likely to get snaps.
Hopefully a trimmed down Keanaaina (309 from 326) is able to step his game up, even just for goal line situations. Would be nice to be able to roll out 3 300+s at the goal line.
Surprised Hinish didn’t gain any weight. He came in at 280, which was a pleasant surprise. Given the work ethic of his family, probably doing some reshaping, but would have expected a bit of a gain.
Eric , Eli Raridon no brace.
Considering our depth, recent discussion on how NW will be impacted, and Transfer Portal issues, I checked in on Stanford. The challenges Troy Taylor faces may be a harbinger for whoever NW’s HC may be. The exodus of all the starting OLmen from 2022 there must be concern with a new QB. They seem to have used the Portal more than in the past and despite twenty-eight commits for 2024 this will take time. Specifically, with Walter Rouse’s departure at tackle who ended up at OU, the new LT seems to be Alec Banks, a transfer from Harvard. Phil Steele’s end of the year All-Ivy Teams ranked him as on the fourth team. It doesn’t appear that he was on the Spring Roster and I could not find his weight.
Summing it up, their OL against our defense even if the game is at the end of the year is hardly fearsome and could be unfair. The PAC has still not reached a media deal. It does appear Colorado is announcing today they are leaving the PAC to go back to the Big 12 (8) and a full share of the conference revenue sharing which was $44 million per team last year behind only the SEC’s $49.9 million. That amount is expected to be around $31 million this year with the three expansion teams, who did pay the conference $18 million over fourteen years. It’s not been announced whether Colorado will have to pay that.
Doesn’t the B1G make even more money than the SEC or Big 12 (thanks to their wise mid-aughts bet on the BTN)?
Yeah, B1G led the way last year and will supposedly widen the gap as the new media deals come into effect.
When does the SEC’s deal end? Does the Big Ten’s new deal start next year? Thought that is over $80 per year then (or maybe more because that number maybe didn’t include big 10 network type stuff).
B1G deal starts this year and runs seven years 23/24 – 29/30. SEC deal starts next year and runs ten years 24/25 – 33/34. It’s kind of difficult to get from media revenue, plus CFB playoff revenue, plus NCAA MBB revenue, minus expenses, plus other conference level revenue to get to the distribution per school number.
But, the difference between the anticipated average annual value of the B1G media deal starting now-ish to the SEC media deal that starts in a year is just a bit over $30 million per school per year higher for the B1G. So assuming those other numbers are reasonably similar… expect the Big Ten’s lead in conference athletic distribution per school to grow.
Thanks for the correction. PAC12 (9) expansion would seemingly look at the Mountain West but now runs up against increased exit fees for MWC teams to $30 million. That may be prohibitive if revenue distribution for the PAC is the same amount and the PAC limits full revenue participation to new members.
Colorado doesn’t have any exit fee for leaving because the PAC’s media deal has not been completed. That situation may lead to the other Four Corner schools taking a similiar pathway. Sanders may now recruit in Texas in a bigger way where he once had a huge estate.
“Recruiting” now includes the Transfer Portal, of course, Players from schools in Texas may see the advantages of Colorado playing those B12 teams closer to home and more PT.
Thanks! How did the Big10 secure a bigger bag than the SEC again? Did the SEC just agree to this new deal earlier and then the market went up? Or was it something else? I would have thought the SEC would have been able to get the biggest bag.
Probably a combination of things:
The one thing ND should key to is point four and see if they can buy back their basketball inventory from the ACC/ESPN for a marginal price to sell as part of the new media deal.
I was under the impression that the primary reason is that the B1G has more ownership/makes more money off the BTN than the SEC does off the SECN. But maybe that doesn’t have to do with the most recent deals (beyond the B1G having more relative leverage)?
Another new addition to the HCMF Exclusive Collection with that short sleeve black hoodie with the gold leprechaun in the presser. It might be enough to get UA into better financial shape by itself to market and release parts of the HCMF Exclusive Collection.