Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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104 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY ANDREW OWENS T heoretically, the return of Max Redfield for his senior season should be a comforting reality for Notre Dame considering the former five-star recruit brings 23 starts to a largely inexperienced safety unit. The problem for the Irish is it's tough to tell which Redfield they will get in 2016. The Mission Viejo, Calif., native struggled with inconsistency dur- ing most of his second season as a starter in 2015, which ended with the program sending him home days prior to the Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State for a violation of team rules. "Basically, it was a terrible decision on my part," Redfield said. "I didn't follow the rules and regulations of the team, which is under- standable why I got dismissed. It hurt and it was terrible. If I could go back, obviously I wouldn't do that, but I learned a lot from it. "I moved forward from it the second it happened and try to learn from it and try to become a better person, player, all that kind of stuff. Even though it did hurt, just move forward and just realize what I can learn from it and how I can grow from it to make sure it doesn't happen again." Head coach Brian Kelly added an interesting wrinkle to the safety outlook early in spring ball when he revealed that early enrollee freshman Devin Studstill was, at the time, the No. 1 free safety ahead of Redfield. Whether it is a motivational tactic with the senior remains to be seen. "He's running with our first group right now," Kelly said of the rookie. "He's been really good. We've been very pleased with what he's been doing and very happy with the way he's picked up our de- fense. Excellent ball skills, excellent retention. He's been probably the guy that's done the most back there. "He wouldn't be out there working with the first group unless he had a natural ability to pick up what we're sending him. He's been able to pick it up as a mid-year enrollee in spring ball, and he's mak- ing plays and getting lined up and getting guys in the right position. We've been very pleased." Redfield said he is trying to use the bowl suspension as a positive experience while he attempts to develop into a leader for the back end of an Irish defense that must replace six starters from an already shaky unit a year ago. "I love it," he said. "I've been waiting for this a long time. I'm comfortable with not being a leader, but I also love stepping up and having my voice heard. Leading by example is something I need to do and I understand I need to do that and can always get better at that, and I'm comfortable with that. "We have other great leaders as well and a lot of young players who are eager to learn and eager to get better. It's good for us and we're going to balance that out and work with each other." With 2016 marking his final season of eligibility, it's now or never for Redfield. "Max is an interesting young man," Kelly said. "I think anytime you come in with a lot of hype and praise and five stars, there are a lot of expectations. I think the game for him is one that he's had to learn a lot about the position that he's playing. He's playing a position that requires a lot of football knowledge and he didn't have a lot at the position, and he's gained a tremendous amount of football knowledge in a very short period of time. "The progress has been steady. It hasn't been fast, but he's at the cusp of really putting it all together for us." Redfield expects the culmination of that progress to be right around the corner. "I feel like I'm harnessing those details on and off the field, and just being conscious of basically everything you're doing at all times," he said. "Just move forward and benefit your game on and off the field DEFENSIVE BACKS AT A CROSSROADS Notre Dame's secondary combines youth with experience and could be crucial to a revival under Brian VanGorder Senior safety Max Redfield has logged 23 career starts while compiling 144 tackles and two interceptions, but has yet to fulfill the full potential be brought to South Bend as an elite recruit. PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS Year YPG National Rank 2010 6.4 28 2011 6.5 24 2012 6.0 13 Year YPG National Rank 2013 6.3 16 2014 7.3 84 2015 6.9 54 YARDS PER PASSING ATTEMPT ALLOWED DURING BRIAN KELLY ERA * Note: Bob Diaco served as the defensive coordinator from 2010‑13, with Brian VanGorder leading in that capacity in 2014‑15