Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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66 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW TIGHT ENDS B uying stock in Notre Dame's tight ends would seem foolish given their steady decline in pass-catching numbers the past few seasons. Over the last six years, the Fighting Irish tight end reception statis- tics have dropped by more than 50. However, Notre Dame is on the cusp of a bull market again at the position. In the first four years of head coach Brian Kelly's tenure, tight end was at its peak at Notre Dame. Tyler Eifert caught a tight end school-record 63 passes in 2011, and followed with 50 in 2012 while winning the John Mackey Award as the nation's best at the position. In 2013, the Troy Niklas/Ben Koyack combo netted 42 passes for 666 yards (a stellar 15.9 yards per catch) and eight touchdowns (most ever in a season by Irish tight ends). The production then ebbed conspicuously. In 2014, Koyack made 30 of the 31 grabs at the position while totaling 317 yards. It fell to 20 catches in 2015, and a paltry 12 last year. Under new offensive coordinator Chip Long — who also happens to be the tight ends coach — that's projected to change, and Notre Dame might be on the threshold of becoming "Tight End U" again. It begins with the return of Alizé Mack, who was academically ineligible last season. As a 2015 freshman, though, when he went by Alizé Jones, he displayed star potential with 13 catches for 190 yards. In back-to-back fourth-quarter comeback victories versus USC and Temple he snared 35- and 45-yard receptions to set up the game-winning scores. "He's got first-round type talent," said Scott Wright of NFL Draft- Countdown. No school has recruited better at tight end the past four years than Notre Dame, and the smorgasbord of options Long has at his disposal there has him looking at multiple tight end alignments. "I can be in 12 personnel [one back and two tight ends] pounding the rock, and then we can be in four wides — with two tight ends in the slots," Long said. "[The defenders] have to decide do they want to bring in a nickel, or do they want to have a linebacker or possible safety guarding an Alizé Mack or Durham Smythe? "It creates a lot of big mismatches, and the ability to do that really fast [in tempo] causes problems for the defense." Plenty of stock is likely to be "purchased" at tight end in 2017. ✦ PRIMED FOR A COMEBACK The return of Alizé Mack and the addition of coordinator Chip Long could make Notre Dame "Tight End U" again Fifth-year senior Durham Smythe started all 12 games and recorded four touchdowns among his nine catches in 2016. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA