Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 39 gone into a year going, 'Hey, I can take this year off. Not going to worry about it.' "Now, I know there's more scrutiny on this year because of last year's poor performance, but I am focused on the present. And I know that there's going to be a ton of talk about that, and I get that. That comes with this. "But every year that I've gone into this position it's about excellence. It's about championships. And if you fall short of that, it's the slings and arrows of outrageous mis- fortune. That's what happened. I get that. But my focus is on the present and on this football team and that's what will drive me every single day." ✦ Notre Dame's defensive line finished with just three sacks in 2016, the fewest among any Power Five team. The Fighting Irish had only 14 sacks overall, tied for 117th nationally among 128 Foot- ball Bowl Subdivision squads, and created just 14 turnovers, which tied for 104th. Creating pressure on opposing offenses — and wreaking havoc on quarterbacks in particular — is a top priority for new defensive coordinator Mike Elko. It begins up front, where Elko's philosophy is built around using the line to create pressure on the op- posing backfield. Wake Forest's 2016 defensive line tallied 44.5 tackles for loss and 26.5 sacks. Junior end Duke Ejiofor racked up 17 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. "We hope to dictate the pace of the game with an attacking and aggressive style of defense, mix physicality and toughness with exceptional fun- damentals and, lastly, play with great effort at all times," Elko said. Elko's track record shows that he's more than capable of disguising pressure and getting produc- tion from all levels of the defense. Wake Forest's linebackers made 40.5 stops be- hind the line last season. Mike linebacker Marquel Lee paced the Deacon defense with 20 tackles for loss. "Mike has consistently coordinated defenses that keep the points down, negate big plays, create negative plays, excel in the red zone and, quite simply, force opposing offenses to execute at an extremely high level to move the football," Kelly said. "This rare combination of consistent success in those facets of defense, along with a proven abil- ity to develop talent and fit it into his system, really places Mike in a class by himself among defensive coordinators across the country." Unlike last offseason, when Notre Dame had to replace many of its most productive defensive players — including Butkus Award winning line- backer Jaylon Smith, top lineman Sheldon Day and top sack man Romeo Okwara — the 2017 defense returns several prospective pass rushers. Sophomore defensive end Daelin Hayes and se- nior linebacker Nyles Morgan are the most intrigu- ing candidates to put pressure on opposing quar- terbacks. Morgan led the team in sacks last season with four. Hayes, a former five-star prospect, has the raw ability to generate consistent pressure from the defensive line, the type of player the Irish have been missing in recent years. Notre Dame lacks a proven playmaker up front, and even if Hayes develops he will not be able to pressure the quarterback by himself. Notre Dame's interior defensive linemen have only two combined sacks in their career. Figuring out a formula to pressure offenses will come through development. "That is the common theme when we get to- gether and talk. It's not, 'Here's where we were, hire Mike Elko, and now we're here.' It doesn't work like that," said Elko, moving his hand from his chest area to well above his head for effect. "If this is where we were in terms of rushing the quarter- back and run defense, we've got to steadily climb. That's just development. "There's not a switch that you flip that gets you to the top. You have to climb the stairs." — Matt Jones Elko's defenses are notorious for generating pressure, and last year was no exception. Under his direction, Wake Forest tied for 10th nationally in turnovers forced (27) and ranked 11th in sacks (41, 3.15 per game). PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND MIKE ELKO'S PRESSURE SOLUTION