Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THE FAMILY BUSINESS Ten scholarship members of Notre Dame's football team were raised in an environment of professional sports. Each of their fathers played or coached in some capacity in pro football, baseball or basketball. Many of them passed on those athletic genes to their sons and gave them an early look at what it takes to make it at the sport's highest levels. S Austin Collinsworth Father: Cris Collinsworth The longtime color commentator played eight seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals as an All-Pro wide receiver. He caught 36 touchdown passes in 90 career starts. Collinsworth played college ball at Florida, where he was a first-team All-American in 1980. RB George Atkinson III and CB Josh Atkinson Father: George Atkinson Jr. Atkinson was a fast and physical member of the feared Oakland Raider defenses from 1968-77. He was an AFL All-Star his first two years in the league and also a part of the Super Bowl XI championship team. He made 30 career interceptions. Atkinson currently coaches the secondary in the Arena League for the San Jose Sabercats. WR DaVaris Daniels Father: Phillip Daniels Daniels played 14 years of pro football in Seattle, Chicago and Washington. In 2011, he retired and took over as the Redskins' director of player development. He played defensive end in the pros and finished his career with 62 sacks and one interception. OG Conor Hanratty Father: Terry Hanratty Hanratty played for the Pittsburgh Steelers for six years. He started in his first season before losing the job to No. 1 overall pick Terry Bradshaw. Most Notre Dame fans know Hanratty better as the quarterback who led the Irish to the 1966 national championship. WR Torii Hunter Jr. Father: Torii Hunter Hunter, currently an outfielder with the Detroit Tigers, began his professional baseball career in 1997 with the Minnesota Twins. He has won nine Gold Glove Awards and made four All-Star Game appearances. In June, the Tigers selected Torii Hunter Jr. to join his dad in the franchise, but he will attend college instead. WR TJ Jones Father: Andre Jones Jones, another Notre Dame alumnus, played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions and the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played outside linebacker for the Irish and won a national championship in 1988. TJ Jones' godfather is his father's former Irish teammate, Raghib "Rocket" Ismail. PHOTO COURTESY ATKINSON FAMILY QB Tommy Rees Father: Bill Rees Rees is a veteran professional and college talent scout. He was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UCLA for 15 years before becoming an NFL scout. He has worked for a long list of teams, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs. RB Amir Carlise Father: Duane Carlisle Carlisle won All-America honors as a sprinter on the Maryland track team. After graduation, he started coaching strength and conditioning and made a variety of stops. He was the San Francisco 49ers head strength coach while Amir was in high school, and he has since taken over as the director of sports performance at Purdue. WR Corey Robinson Father: David Robinson David "The Admiral" Robinson was the top overall pick in the 1987 NBA Draft. The seven-footer won two NBA championships, a league MVP award, Defensive Player of the Year honors and a scoring title during his Hall of Fame career. — Dan Murphy George Atkinson Jr. (center) was a stalwart for the Oakland Raiders before passing on the family business to twin sons Josh (left) and George III (right). Atkinson III gives the same type of credit to his father, who also provides an experienced coach and NFL ties. Atkinson Jr. has been the secondary coach for the Arena Football League's San Jose Sabercats for the majority of the past decade. He also works on radio broadcasts for the Oakland Raiders. Atkinson Jr. said he does his best to let his sons learn the game on their own, but at times he can't help but share some paternal wisdom. Like his son, Atkinson Jr. was a sprinter and a running back at Morris Brown College in Atlanta. He went neck and neck on the field and the track with Olympic gold medalist and NFL Hall of Famer Bob Hayes in the old Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. There he learned the difference between a sprinter and a running back. "It's controlled speed," he said. "Knowing when to turn it on and when to control or break it down, when to burst when you have to. It's understanding when to hit which gears, and realizing that you do have gears." Atkinson III is still in the process of learning how to make that transition. If he touches the ball in open space, he's almost impossible to catch. For the past two years, that's been enough to make an impact on the team. But with Wood and Riddick both gone, he is now in a position where he needs to learn how to fight through a crowd before showing off his wheels. Atkinson III's training on the track leads him to run standing even taller than his 6-1 frame would normally dictate. His father and his coaches are doing their best to get him to lower his pads and avoid big blows while running through the middle of a defense. Alford said the past year has been a big one for Atkinson III's maturity as a football player. He started taking the mental and physical parts of the game more seriously without the veteran backs in front of him. Now, the role of an every-down back in the Irish offense is his to lose. "I would love that. It's just up to me to prove to coaches that I'm able to do it," he said. "It's about consistency at this point. I was inconsistent with the plays and things like that, so just building consistency and my performance on the field." Notre Dame's running game has made significant leaps forward every season under head coach Brian Kelly. Prior to last year's BCS National Championship Game, the Irish averaged 202.5 yards per game on the ground — more than any Notre Dame team in the past 12 years. The left side of the offensive line, which paved the way for the majority of those yards, is back intact from a year ago. Without a dynamic and experienced quarterback on the roster in 2013, it stands to reason that Notre Dame will turn to its run game to carry a large load again if it's capable. Atkinson III and Carlisle have all the ingredients to build on what the team has done in the past three seasons if they both find a way to unleash their speed. ! BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2013 FOOTBALL PREVIEW 44-47.Speed Feature.indd 47 ! 47 6/25/13 10:56 AM