Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/131896
Safety Nick Baratti will battle for a bigger role this year after making an impact on special teams in 2012. His debut last season netted eight tackles and an interception. photo by bill panzica Safety In Numbers The single-most recruited position in the current sophomore class was safety. Among the 17 original members of the class, four were stationed at safety last season: Nick Baratti, C.J. Prosise, Elijah Shumate and John Turner. That's not even including Chris Badger, who returned last year from a two-year Mormon mission (after enrolling early in 2010) with four years of eligibility. In comparison, the 2012 Irish recruiting haul signed only one linebacker (Romeo Okwara), two defensive linemen (Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones) and two offensive linemen (Mark Harrell and Ronnie Stanley). Prosise has since moved to wide receiver, but the safety cupboard is almost at an overflow with candidates in years to come. Junior starter Matthias Farley, plus the aforementioned Shumate, Baratti and Turner all have three years of eligibility remaining with junior Eilar Hardy, while senior Austin Collinsworth has two. Plus, Max Redfield is enrolling this summer as a five-star prospect. Nevertheless, the graduation of NFL safety picks Zeke Motta and Jamoris Slaughter has Notre Dame reloading at safety in 2013 — although less so than at cornerback last year. "What we've gained in veteran players on the perimeter, we've lost in veteran play at the safety position," Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco said. "We're going to be restarting at safety in the fall of 2013. … We work into '14 and '15, we'll have a bunch of guys that have been around here doing it for a long time. That will be exciting, but we won't be there in '13." At least there will be safeties in numbers. — Lou Somogyi