Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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44 PRESEASON 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED carrying the freight. This year, it's the other side of the ball that might be leaned on more to set the tone. "I think it is the heartbeat of this team," Tillery said of the defense. "If you can't stop anybody, you can't win. If we're able to do our job well, we like our chances." When it is brought up to Tillery that this year's veteran defensive line is helping improve the offensive line the way last's year offensive line did with the defense, Tillery's competi- tive streak flashed. "They're getting a lot better — but so are we," he noted of the offensive line. "As camp goes on you're re- ally just working on consistency and dominating every day instead of ev- ery other day. "If we're able to do that, we'll be better on Saturdays." LINEBACKER/ROVER Top Topic Through Aug. 20: Se- nior Te'von Coney and fifth-year senior two-time captain Drue Tran- quill have been acclimating well to their new positions at Mike and Buck linebacker, respectively, and are pro- jected to be one of the nation's more savvy and productive tandems. Of Note: With Tranquill moving from rover to Buck, where he is situ- ated to make more tackles, the rover position will be somewhat like right tackle last season with Robert Hain- sey and Tommy Kraemer in that it's more by committee and alignment in co-starting roles. Against more run-oriented, mul- tiple tight end looks (a la Stanford), senior Asmar Bilal is the starter. Ver- sus fast-tempo, spread teams, Bilal likely would be replaced in the nickel package by either cornerback Shaun Crawford or safety Nick Coleman. Freshman Shayne Simon, who al- ready has worked on the top kick return unit, might also have an op- portunity for some snaps at rover be- cause sophomore Jeremiah Owusu- Koramoah was slowed in August with a hamstring issue. Two inside linebackers, sopho- more Drew White and freshman Jack Lamb, have suited up but been mainly confined to riding the station- ary bike for rehab during practices while recovering from injuries. Summary: Whereas linebacker had a strong three-for-two rotation inside last year with Coney and the gradu- ated Nyles Morgan and Greer Mar- tini, there is far less seasoned depth in 2018. Sophomore Jordan Genmark Heath had to shift from safety to back up Tranquill, and junior Jona- than Jones and freshman Bo Bauer (an early enrollee in January) have been waging a battle to play behind Coney, who paced the team in tack- les (116) and tackles for loss (13) last season. "Absolutely crucial to the depth," Kelly said of Genmark Heath. "He is learning every day and becom- ing much more instinctive at the position. "He can make up a lot of stuff with his athleticism and his toughness." SAFETY Top Topic Through Aug. 20: A 13- game starter in 2017 as a junior, Nick Coleman dropped to third team in the spring, but did have a role as the potential starting nickel. Just like last year after switching from cornerback, where he also had dropped to the third unit, the ever resilient and highly athletic Cole- man had the best August among the safeties to possibly reclaim a starting role. "It's been a healthy competition," first-year Irish safeties coach Terry Joseph said of Coleman's ascent. "He'll probably tell you he didn't have the spring that he wanted to have, but I think he really accepted the challenge to continue to become a better player. "Coming into fall camp, you saw a guy who really understood the de- fense, understood his keys, and now he's able to put himself in a posi- tion faster to make the play and have production." Meanwhile, 2017 Navy transfer Alohi Gilman has maintained his starting role while playing with bet- ter discipline than in the spring. "In fall camp he has played at a different speed," Joseph said. "He has the ability to play physical, but he also has the ability to help in coverage." Of Note: Freshman Houston Griffith, who made a strong impres- sion this spring as an early enrollee, was hampered some during August with a hamstring injury. Summary: Junior Devin Studstill started nine games as a freshman and classmate Jalen Elliott started all 13 games last season — yet it has been a battle for them to remain in the two deep, never mind crack the starting unit. There is intense competition for playing time, but the issue is whether the collective unit can become more productive and help make a differ- ence versus the pass and run rather than just be serviceable. Head coach Brian Kelly identified sophomore Jordan Genmark Heath as being "crucial" to the team's depth at linebacker because of his athleticism and toughness. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL