Notre Dame held its first and only entirely open practice of spring on Saturday morning inside the Irish Athletic Center. Although the media were allowed to watch the whole practice, only the beginning 5 periods were able to be taped. So, we’re looking at the last big news dump of the spring until the Blue-Gold Game later this month. Here are the top updates following Saturday’s workout:
Running back Logan Diggs was in street clothes again. This is the second straight practice available to the media (also on March 25th) where Diggs wasn’t practicing. I may not have been paying close enough attention this spring, but I haven’t read a reason for his absence yet.
Linebacker Jaylen Sneed has been banged up and did not dress for practice.
The team did not tackle until the final team period.
According to those in attendance, to say the defense outplayed the offense would be putting it mildly. Saturday’s practice was not very impressive for the offense, in fact most said it was quite poor with too many drops, poor pass protection, and too many inaccurate throws from the quarterbacks.
There was a lot of 3rd down work done on the day, and lots of blitzing from the defense. The offense, especially Sam Hartman, didn’t always handle it very well. However, Buchner got a little more of the reps with the starting offensive line.
Yesterday, Steve Angeli picked up a lot of praise from new quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli and it seems like he’s not ready to just give up on playing any time soon. In general, the media were impressed with his command under center on Saturday.
New freshman quarterback Kenny Minchey also drew praise from Guidugli for his incredible calmness, although he didn’t get a ton of work on Saturday as expected at 4th-string.
The 1st-team offensive line lined up as follows: Joe Alt (LT), Billy Schrauth (LG), Zeke Correll (C), Andrew Kristofic (RG), and Blake Fisher (RT).
The second unit on the line saw Tosh Baker (LT), Michael Carmody (LG), Pat Coogan (C), Rocco Spindler (RG), and Aamil Wagner (RT) working together. Although, Carmody got banged up early (presumed a shoulder injury) and sat out the remainder of practice with veteran walk-on Quinn Murphy taking his place.
Blake Fisher is down to 310 pounds from 335 pounds a year ago and it’s being noticed how more athletic he is looking this spring.
As expected, the interior of the offensive line was struggling against pressure rather than the Alt/Fisher combination at the tackle spots.
Aamil Wagner still needs to add size but is starting to show some decent development.
Less surprising was that when the Irish did run the ball it was generally very effective. I’m sure the aggressiveness of the defense played a part in them giving up some long runs.
You have to think his veteran ability will start to shine through eventually but if we’re only looking at the small media viewing window this spring it doesn’t seem like Virginia Tech grad transfer Kaleb Smith the Elder is going to be much of a factor among the receivers.
That’s interesting because Smith brings a lot of size but it’s not something Notre Dame lacks right now. If they were to trot out 3 starters right now it would probably be Jayden Thomas, Deion Colzie, and Tobias Merriweather. Those 3 receivers average about 6’3″ and around 212 pounds.
Chris Tyree continues to work exclusively in the slot and didn’t have a good practice with numerous drops.
Rico Flores continues to jump out with his explosiveness and quickness on short routes. He’s also involved with the special teams coverage units so it’s safe to say he’ll not be taking a redshirt in 2023.
Both of the other freshmen receivers in Braylon James and Jaden Greathouse remain heavily involved in the two-deep.
The 3-deep on the defensive line looks like this, if we’re laying things out in a traditional depth chart:
Botelho (WDE), Rubio (DT), Cross (NG), Jean-Bapstiste (SDE)
Tuihalamaka (WDE), Mills (DT), Onye (NG), Osafo-Mensash (SDE)
Burnham (WDE), Ehrensberger (DT), Keanaaina (NG), Gobaira (SDE)
What jumps out is that Ehrenberger is now playing on the inside and in general there is a ton of size at defensive tackle.
We can count Jason Onye as one of the breakout players of the spring so far. He’s gained nearly 40 pounds since his recruiting days and is built like a machine in the middle. Right now, it looks like he’ll be among the top 8 guys in terms of playing time on the defensive line.
Donovan Hinish and Tyson Ford were rotating in with the 3rd group, as well. It’s still early this spring but Ford not making a big move that we know of yet is duly noted as a concern.
From the “it’s probably an important update” department, when the Irish switched to 2 linebackers on the field it was Marist Liufau coming off the field with Jack Kiser and JD Bertrand staying in the package with the starters.
This is likely masked by the absence of Sneed a little bit, but redshirt freshman linebacker Nolan Ziegler is looking the part as someone who could be contributing a little bit in 2023.
With Cam Hart out of team work it’s giving a lot of reps to Jaden Mickey, Benjamin Morrison, and Clarence Lewis as the 1st-team corners–the latter also getting cross-training as the nickel corner.
A lot of the sub-packages and blitzing schemes kept 3 safeties on the field with one of the defensive backs deployed near the line of scrimmage, not too dissimilar to Marcus Freeman’s days at Cincinnati with the “Sniper” role.
True freshman Christian Gray was getting a few reps with the 1st-team at corner. The depth at corner could mean he redshirts but so far it may be a really difficult decision to keep him off the field that much.
People were impressed with Zak Yoakam’s field goal kicking performance.
A total of 6 players worked on returning kickoffs: Chris Tyree, Gi’Bran Payne, Lorenzo Styles, Tobias Merriweather, Jaden Greathouse, and Jaden Mickey.
New sophomore walk-on quarterback Dylan Devezin was the 1st-team holder for kicks on Saturday.
Sounds promising…..
That is supposed to be a “yikes” gif.
I’m not too concerned in April. Nice to see Schrauth make the move to the first team and so much of the offense is new that it would be almost impossible for them to look impressive at this point. Got a lot of work to do, which given the strengths of Hartman I’m sure it will get there.
More intrigued that Ford hasn’t made a move and Keanaaina remains almost persona non grata for the staff for whatever reason. But at least Rubio is getting a shot.
Also probably great that Gray could be “more than Mickey less than Morrison” as a freshman considering that Hart gets hurt more often than not. That could be big against the Ohio State’s and USC’s of the world, can’t have enough good corners.
Good vibes on Onye too.
True, considering the need and uncertainty in the middle if Onye emerges out of nowhere to be a player who can see the field, that might be one of the biggest and most positive developments of spring.
If that’s the case, they could probably focus all resources into finding a safety in the spring portal. If there is a Chris Smith type of 300 pounder, probably can’t turn that down either, but it would be nice if there is an internal answer and they don’t have to reach for a player who might not be up to the level.
It’s said that Onye is 290 lbs. now. I saw a picture of him at a Lacrosse game and I assure you it’s good weight. Fingers crossed on him.
Nice to see Flores stepping up, I’d heard from recruiting stuff he was the most polished freshman. Whatever under is available for anything to do with Tyree, I’ll take it. The drops don’t surprise me, I guess.
Trivia – The Irish have had seven Irish Head Coaches who have were Head Coaches for five years or longer at ND and whose first year was in the bowl era. ND did not go to bowls until Ara’s sixth year. Willingham lasted only three years.
which ones have won their bowl game following their first seasonwhich ones have a better record that first year than Freeman’s 9-4which ones have a better record than Freeman and won their bowl game
Those seven HCs are Devine, Holtz, Faust, Davie, Weiss, Kelly and Freeman
Devine and Weis?
Winner. Only Devine (8-3, including the bowl win) and Weiss (9-3, lost the bowl) had better first year records than Freeman’s.
The other four’s first year records: Faust and Holtz (both 5-6), Davie (7-6, lost bowl), and Kelly (8-5, won bowl).
Devine, Kelly and Freeman each won bowls in their first years.
Willingham’s first year was 10-3 with a bowl loss, but was less than .500 in his following two years after that (11-12),