Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/783750
10 MARCH 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Five Questions With … MEN'S LACROSSE COACH KEVIN CORRIGAN Defense Needs To Regain Credibility By Lou Somogyi Let's not kid ourselves. In today's style of football, offenses take center stage. The "defense wins championships" cliché can get overridden by scores of the past four title games: 35-31, 45-40, 42-20 and 34-31. Defense can be about "damage control" more than dominance today. Still, while I believe Notre Dame will continue to average 30-35 points per game no matter who calls the plays, the 2017 defense needs to cultivate a credibility — especially when most needed. That's where new coordinator Mike Elko is so crucial. In 2015 when Notre Dame scored with 30 sec- onds left to move ahead of Stanford 36-35, there was a feeling that too much time was left for the Cardinal to win (which it did). Last year when the Irish opted to kick a short field goal with 7:28 left to pull within 28-27 of Navy, one could not help but think the Midshipmen would run out the clock (which they did). A form of learned helplessness about the Notre Dame defense has developed the past several years again that must be eradicated. All four 2016 College Football Playoff participants finished in the top 10 in scoring defense, and 10 of the top 15 in the Associated Press poll ranked 18th or higher in that category. For Notre Dame to become a complete "program," it has to start on de- fense. It needs to enter top 25 territory — much like Elko's 2016 overachiev- ing Wake Forest unit finishing 23rd in scoring defense. Offense Will Dictate The Pace By Bryan Driskell There is little doubt that from a long-term perspective, Notre Dame must improve defensively. Competing for titles on a consistent basis requires a dominant defense, and I believe Mike Elko is capable of making that happen. However, asking him to achieve that in just one season — a year after the Irish ranked 62nd in scoring defense and 63rd in defensive efficiency — is likely asking way too much. That means the Irish offense must be good enough to carry the team. As bad as the 2016 season was on defense, in seven of its eight losses Notre Dame had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie or take the lead. Improve- ments on defense will allow Notre Dame to dra- matically improve on its 4-8 record, but if the Irish are going to make a run at the College Football Playoff the offense must become an elite unit. Eventually, Notre Dame must be capable of being dominant in all phases of the game, but a playoff run in 2017 will require a truly elite offense. It will be up to Chip Long to create a unit that has great balance, one that thrives in situational football (third down and red zone), and one that doesn't just beat up on the weaker opponents on the schedule. It must be one capable of jumping out to big leads, one capable of answer- ing momentum swings and one capable of making game-winning plays when victory is on the line. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH HIRE IS MORE CRUCIAL TO NOTRE DAME'S 2017 SUCCESS: OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR OR DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR? MIKE ELKO CHIP LONG Kevin Corrigan has been a fixture for Notre Dame men's lacrosse for three decades now. During that time, the 29th-year head coach has led the Irish to a pair of national runner-up finishes. The Irish, who are gunning for their 12th straight invita- tion to the NCAA Championship, scrimmaged Team USA Jan. 15 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., in prepara- tion for the 2017 campaign. BGI: Why is going to IMG Academy an attractive option for your program? Corrigan: "When you can start off five days into prac- tice with a scrimmage of that caliber, I'd actually hope it's deeper in so we'd have better preparation. It really kind of focuses everyone from that first workout and it's a great opportunity to be at a facility like IMG without classes and everything. "Everybody's really focused on lacrosse and they knew we were playing some of the best players in the country, and I think it really jump started our preseason in a big way." BGI: How valuable is getting the opportunity to play against Team USA and how do you see it paying off? Corrigan: "Listen, those guys are great individual players. As I told our team before we played, they are bigger, faster, stronger and more confident than anyone you will play all year. That forces level of play and level of accountabil- ity in everything you do on the field because they take advantage of mistakes when you make them. "They make you pay for the little things you don't do well. … When you play a team of that caliber early in the season you want to learn about yourself. … If you do things well against them, you can do them well against just about anyone." BGI: What challenges will your team face when opening the season versus Georgetown Feb. 18 in Dallas? Corrigan: "We've opened that with them the last three years. It doesn't matter to us. When you walk out of the locker room and get on a plane to go somewhere, who cares where it lands? It doesn't change the nature of it or the degree of difficulty. "Our guys are great travelers, and they are great oppor- tunities to give our guys different experiences that happen on and off the field. … We want to provide our guys with as many different experiences we can during their four years." BGI: Heading into the season, what do you see as the team's strengths and weaknesses? Corrigan: "We're always going to build our team from the defensive end. My belief is you make yourself hard to play against if you are a good defensive team. … We're still learning right now. That's why we have so many preseason games. "We felt like we've had a big turnover particularly on the middle of the field. … We're trying to make sure we have a good feel for what we have and playing the appropriate way." BGI: What will be the main keys in determining how successful the team can be this season? Corrigan: "You have to clear the ball well, you have to play good defense, compete in the face-off area and you have to come together offensively. It may be a slow and deliberate offense or an aggressive, fast-pace attacking offense. "You have to develop an appropriate vision and sense of who you are." — Corey Bodden Corrigan is entering his 29th season at the helm in South Bend, making him the second-longest tenured Division I coach in men's lacrosse. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS