Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 PRESEASON 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI D efensive coordinators strive to build quality rotations in an effort to not wear down their personnel over the course of the season. For second-year Notre Dame de- fensive coordinator Clark Lea, who also is in his third year of instructing the Fighting Irish linebackers, there has also been a different kind of rota- tion throughout his tenure. In each of his three years, one particular area of the unit was or is in a reconstruction phase, if not under the gun to elevate its collective game. • In 2017, it was the line after it had lost three starters — Isaac Rochell, Jarron Jones and then Jay Hayes as a graduate transfer to Georgia — and had to rely immediately on two freshman tackles, Myron Tagovailoa- Amosa and Kurt Hinish, to provide snaps behind the starting duo of Jerry Tillery and Jonathan Bonner. The new group helped improve Notre Dame from 4-8 to 10-3. Today, the defensive line is one of the most fortified units on the Notre Dame roster with 17 scholarship players and possibly the best collec- tion of ends in the country. • In 2018, the attention turned to safety, where there had been little production the year prior and po- tentially immediate help was needed from freshmen Houston Griffith and Derrik Allen. Instead, Jalen Elliott became maybe the most improved player on the team, while Navy transfer Alohi Gilman provided instant impact in clutch play and as a leader. Today, those two seniors are team captains because of their combination of pro- duction and respect. • And now in 2019, the torch of skepticism is passed to Lea's line- backing crew, especially after the graduation of Drue Tranquill and Te'von Coney, who combined for 410 stops (42 for loss) the past two sea- sons and had more impact on Notre Dame's 22-4 record than any other duo at any position on the team. At least two definitive statements can be made about the 2019 line- backer corps based on the first two full weeks of August training camp. One is the defense that was run last year will not be the same in 2019 because of distinct strengths. In 2018, the stability was up the middle with the likes of veterans Tillery, Bon- ner, Tranquill and Coney, so that's where "team defense" was funneled. This year the strength is on the edge, which creates different roles within the structure. Second, do not expect the mo- nopoly of playing time that Coney and Tranquill had last season with 920 and 796 snaps, respectively. The next most on the inside behind them were current junior Jordan Genmark Heath with 106 (46 of them at North- western when Tranquill was injured) and Drew White, also a junior now, with 58. In order to provide some expe- rience on the inside, 2018 starting rover and fifth-year senior Asmar Bilal was shifted there and has been cross-training at both the Mike and Buck positions. Bilal and White have come out most frequently with the first group in the four practices that were open to the media this August, but sopho- mores Jack Lamb (Buck) and Shayne Simon (Mike) have also been liber- ally rotated, with Lamb more so in passing situations. Former safety Genmark Heath also could be a con- tender at Buck, while sophomore Bo Bauer provides competition at Mike. White is an intriguing figure be- cause every time he might be writ- ten off, he suddenly re-emerges. He came out of nowhere to excel versus the Navy triple option last year … and then disappeared. He was ex- pected to vie for a starting role this spring … and then a spring break accident sidelined him the final 12 practices. In August, he's been taking the ma- jority of snaps (at least in the prac- tices the media has seen) at Mike linebacker because of his combina- tion of instinct, technique, downhill skills and a stouter 230-pound frame. "He's a downhill player," head coach Brian Kelly summarized. "If you look up 'Mike linebacker ' in a dictionary, you'd probably find his body type and picture. One of the things we were really looking for is the Mike linebacker to pull those double teams off the two down linemen. "White's been really consistent at doing that and playing downhill, pulling those double teams off and allowing [junior defensive tackles] Myron [Tagovailoa-Amosa] and [Kurt] Hinish to make some plays at the line of scrimmage. That's been his consistent forte and that's what we need from that position." When asked if the veteran Bilal also is a front-runner for a starting role at either position, Kelly didn't want to commit too much to what might be an inside linebacker group by committee. "We're trying to find the guys that fit with their skill set," Kelly said. "We're really trying to find the strengths of each one of those line- backers and how they fit into the overall scheme of things on first, sec- ond and third down. I think we have a pretty good idea of who those guys are. Now it's about finding what the best combinations are. "We're starting to see some combi- nations … and matching those skills sets." Who knows, maybe the linebackers can surprise in 2019 the way the line did in 2017 and the safeties in 2018 … which then puts cornerback as next in line for top concern in 2020 af- ter Troy Pride Jr. and Donte Vaughn POSITION ROTATION It is the linebackers' turn to be on the proving grounds in Notre Dame's 2019 defense Fifth-year senior Asmar Bilal, who was the starting rover in 2018, has been cross-training at both the Mike and Buck positions in August, while the Irish coaches try to find the right combinations in their linebacker corps. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER