Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2017 5 N otre Dame's collection of talent on both sides of the ball far and away exceeds anything new de- fensive coordinator Mike Elko has been around in his 18 years of coach- ing. The 39-year-old has a plan to inspire those players, many of which have always been among the best on the field. "You find a way to put a chip on their shoulder," Elko said. "You've got to motivate kids, and you can't look at it differently. I learned that as a young coach just moving up from level to level to level. Just coach the way you coach." Elko thrived at Wake Forest the past three seasons with a roster that ranked near the bottom of the ACC in terms of talent. The Deacons' previous four recruiting classes ranked 61st, 52nd, 59th and 58th, bringing in just one four-star prospect. Elko coached 2015 NFL first-round pick Kevin John- son, a cornerback, for one season. Johnson, who just completed his second season with the Houston Tex- ans, was a two-star recruit and un- ranked in the state of Maryland by Rivals in the class of 2010. Among the top 10 tacklers on the 2016 Wake Forest defense, only four were rated as three-star recruits by Rivals. Four were two-stars, while the remaining two were unranked. Leading tackler Marquel Lee — a former three-star recruit who chose the Deacons over Maryland, and Football Championship Subdivision programs James Madison and Tow- son — finished his senior season with 105 tackles, including 20 stops for loss and was a second-team All-ACC pick. Compare those backgrounds with the top 10 returning tacklers on the 2017 Irish defense. They include six four-star recruits, led by senior Nyles Morgan, who was rated as the No. 5 inside linebacker and No. 72 overall player in the 2014 recruiting class, and four three-stars. It doesn't sound like motivating Morgan — a team captain and one of the more vocal leaders on the team — will be a problem. "These guys are so eager to win. They're ready to follow, and they're ready to be led," new linebackers coach Clark Lea said. "My hope with Nyles is we're locked in arm and leading together." Motivating a team of under-re- cruited two- and three-star players is one thing. Maximizing the po- tential of former star recruits like five-star sophomore defensive end Daelin Hayes, four-star sophomore cornerbacks Troy Pride Jr. and Donte Vaughn, and four-star junior line- backer Asmar Bilal is another. "That's just football," Elko said. "It's a new challenge from the perspective of I don't know these kids. I have to get to know them and learn how to motivate them. It's not a blueprint." Most of Wake Forest's players were overlooked out of high school. The proverbial "chip" on their shoulder didn't need to be created — it was al- ready there. Elko is now tasked with finding a way to motivate some of the top players in the country. Star ratings generally correlate to a team's success. According to research done by Clay Travis of Outkick The Coverage, every team since 1996 that has won a national title, with the ex- ception of Oklahoma in 2000, has had at least two top-10 national signing classes in the four years before a title. That distinction would eliminate Notre Dame from title contention in 2017 — the Irish currently have 40-1 odds of winning the title according to the Westgate Las Vegas casino — but that doesn't mean ND can't get back to being a top-flight program. In 2016 and 2017, Notre Dame fin- ished 13th in recruiting. In 2014 and 2015, the Irish were 11th. Elko made Wake Forest into the 20th-ranked de- fense in the country in 2016 with a sliver of the talent Notre Dame has coming back. But again, Elko is not worried about finding motivation for a potential Irish turnaround. "Everyone keeps referencing this star thing," Elko said. "What is that to say that the way you motivate a Notre Dame kid is the same way you motivate an Alabama kid? No, it's a different kid with a different mind- set with a different background, and you've got to find a way to push his buttons. That's football. "It's got less to do with stars and more to do with getting to know new kids and figuring out what they're all about." ✦ ON THE IRISH BEAT MATT JONES Staff writer Matt Jones has been with Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2016. He can be reached at mjones@blueandgold.com. Putting A Chip On The Shoulder Of The Defense New defensive coordinator Mike Elko has never coached players on the level of senior linebacker Nyles Morgan (above), a former top-100 recruit. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA