Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com AUGUST 2018 29 about physical traits," Love said. "I really think it's just about the mental game and your confidence levels. Ev- erybody thinks there's a huge change in freshman and sophomore year in terms of how much stronger or faster you are. We're getting that here, but it's also your confidence levels and how you're thinking about the game, and your ability to take chances. "Guys make huge jumps purely off of confidence just playing the game. I know I can do it, so now I just have to implement it in my game." Based on the improvements in 2017, he's already ahead of the curve. RUN TO COVER Notre Dame's 2016 season might have set a record for the most num- ber of true freshmen who started in the secondary on a Power Five foot- ball team. Cornerbacks Love, Vaughn and Pride all had a minimum of three starts, led by Love's eight, while safety Devin Studstill had nine. A fifth, safety Jalen Elliott, appeared in all 12 games on special teams and played eight on defense. They took their share of lumps during a 4-8 campaign, but also held their own on many occasions while combining for 131 tackles. Last year during a much improved 10-3 campaign, Love earned some All-America notice, Elliott started all 13 games and Pride came on strong at the close of the season to earn a starting role, highlighted by a crucial interception at the Navy 14-yard line halfway through the fourth quarter of a 24-17 win, while also making a physical impact on the edge with his tackling against the triple option. This spring, Kelly noted that de- spite the presence of Love, nobody in the Fighting Irish defensive backfield played better than Pride. "Really pleased with his physi- cality, his strength, his knowledge," Kelly summarized. "… He knows he's playing really well." So well that 2017 eight-game starter Nick Watkins — whose eight passes broken up were second on the team last year and would have paced the 2016 crew — decided to use his fifth season as a graduate transfer at the University of Houston. It was similar to strongside defen- sive end, where junior Khalid Ka- reem was rising so much that Jay Hayes — a 13-game starter in 2017 — decided to use his fifth season at Georgia instead. When lauding Pride, the Irish head coach didn't even have to refer to speed, which has been the junior 's calling card since his enrollment. That's because as a senior at Greer (S.C.) High, Pride won the South Carolina Class AAA state champion- ships in the 100 meters (10.55), the 200 meters (21.28) and the 400 meters (48.28), and he also ran a leg for the winning 4x100 relay team (42.20). One of the fastest players in college football (see sidebar), Pride has dis- pelled any notions that he is a track man trying to play football, or that he gets by on pure speed. "I don't feel like it was an issue of track transitioning to football," he said. "I feel like it was an issue of comfort with myself on the football field. Yeah, I had accolades in track, but managing the two has never been an issue for me. It was just really me coming into my own [in football], telling myself that I can make plays and I can do things on the field that are special." Ego or even pride (no pun intended) might have prevented the four-star cornerback from competing in track at Notre Dame because he's not on the same training schedule as college track stalwarts while a full-time foot- ball player. However, his motivation was to continue engaging against first- rate competition in track to improve himself. It is the mentality he says a cornerback must possess while so of- ten engaged in one-on-one battles. The competition in the secondary this spring also has brought out the best in him. In addition to Love and Pride, Crawford was legitimately vying for a starting spot after starting at nickel last season, while Vaughn was re- turning to form after tying for the team lead in passes broken up (six) as a freshman while starting four games. There is similar competition at safety with the enrollment of 2016 Navy starter Alohi Gilman and as- cending freshman Griffith. Their presence, along with 2017 13-game starter Nick Coleman (working also at nickel) and Elliott has Studstill battling for a spot on the two-deep despite his nine starts as a freshman. "We're fighting for it," Pride said of playing time in the secondary. "Every play, every day it's like if you come slacking, you might be a three [third team]. That's just how it rolls." Although the defense is now tak- ing instruction from a fourth dif- ferent coordinator since 2016, Pride believes the experience factor, espe- cially in the secondary, provides a greater confidence and knowledge base to play more aggressively, or in press coverage. The overall team improvement last year also has facilitated Pride's indi- vidual growth. "That love for the game has really just surged back," Pride said. "My freshman year it was a little iffy, I was up and down, not making a play, I was thinking a lot. Then everything just started to slow down and I was like, 'Shoot this is still just football that I've played since I was seven years old.' "Once that happened, once that came to me … let's just go ball. Once I got over that hill, [it was] downhill." While on the upswing at the same time. ✦ Getting Up To Speed This spring at the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships, Troy Pride Jr. finished sixth in the 60-me- ter dash finals — there were 28 competitors overall in the prelims — with a 6.78 time to earn three points for Notre Dame in that event — despite not working full-time on that craft like his competitors. He actually set a personal record with a 6.73 in the preliminary heats. For context, the school record is 6.68 by longtime NFL return man Allen Rossum in 1997 as a senior, and 6.60 is considered world class. There was not a 60-meter dash when Raghib "Rocket" Ismail was running for the Irish, but he still holds the school's 55-meter dash record with a 6.07 in 1991, as a junior. Later in the spring, Pride finished seventh in the 100-meter dash final at the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a 10.56 time. — Lou Somogyi "WE'RE FIGHTING FOR IT. EVERY PLAY, EVERY DAY IT'S LIKE IF YOU COME SLACKING, YOU MIGHT BE A THREE [THIRD TEAM]. THAT'S JUST HOW IT ROLLS." TROY PRIDE JR. ON EARNING PLAYING TIME IN NOTRE DAME'S TALENTED SECONDARY