Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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34 PRESEASON 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY BRYAN DRISKELL Q uestions abound on the Notre Dame defense heading into the 2017 season. Defensive line play, the safety rotation and whether or not the Irish defenders can adapt to new coordina- tor Mike Elko's scheme fast enough to be impactful in 2017 are at the top of the list. The unit with the fewest questions is linebacker, where Notre Dame is led by a pair of experienced seniors, Nyles Morgan and Greer Martini. The pair has combined for 26 starts, and Morgan led the Irish in both tack- les (94) and sacks (four) last season. Martini has been a utility player dur- ing his Notre Dame career, doing a little bit of everything for the defense, including being an option specialist. Both were chosen as captains this fall, along with senior rover Drue Tranquill, fifth-year senior offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey, senior guard Quenton Nelson, senior wide receiver Austin Webster, and most recently junior running back Josh Adams. Morgan and Martini's experience and talent have raised expectations for their play, and so has the defen- sive philosophy that Elko brought with him from Wake Forest. It is a system designed to allow the line- backers to think less and react more, freeing both Morgan and Martini to be more aggressive than they were permitted to be their first three sea- sons in South Bend. "Coach Elko wants us to change our focus from trying to do every- thing right to just going out there and playing for one another," Morgan explained. "Trust our scheme. Trust our fundamentals and just play with intent. Guys are just letting it go and playing with the speed and passion that they have." Morgan came to Notre Dame as the No. 72 overall recruit in the 2014 class, and he was the second-highest ranked linebacker prospect of the Kelly era, with only former Irish All-American Jaylon Smith receiving a higher grade. Notre Dame's coaches have wit- nessed first-hand the talent that made Morgan a top recruit, and he has flashed it from time to time during his career in South Bend. "He's twitchy, he's explosive, he cuts through the line as quickly as anybody I've ever coached," Notre Dame linebackers coach Clark Lea DYNAMIC DUO Senior linebackers Nyles Morgan and Greer Martini are expected to anchor the 2017 defense Morgan will look to build on his team-leading 94 tackles and four sacks from a season ago. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA