Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2021 23 "He's definitely a players' coach, so that's always a good thing to have on the team — to build a relationship outside of football," Moala said. "The connection is definitely there." Bauer noted how his conversations with Freeman likewise have included his undergraduate work, potential future in graduate school, family and "being interested in all parts of our job. He brings that spirit every day." Consistent all-out effort, attitude and aptitude are the foremost man- dates in practice that enhances one's ability to play at a more free level. "The level of football they want us to play at is definitely the same," Moala said of the two coordinators he's had. "They emphasize the totem pole is horizontal. There's really no hierarchy among the coaches and the players. They really want the players and the coaches to be the same level in communicating." A development to watch is per- haps some more cross-training with players while playing either 4-3 or three-man front alignments. For ex- ample, fifth-year senior tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa is slated to be a regular end, which he was in the ini- tial spring practice March 27. "We think he's certainly capable of giving us the kind of solid tech- nique necessary to play that big end position," Kelly said of Tagovailoa- Amosa. "He's got the size, he's got the strength, he's put on some weight, so he's up for it." Similar versatility to marry with scheme will be required at all posi- tions. "What I'm looking for is the abil- ity to play the position and not just be the boundary corner, but you can play corner or wide corner," Kelly said. "Not just be the field safety, but you can be the field safety, the rolled- up safety. … "I want our players to understand the position and how it fits within the defensive structure, so just a smart football player. Somebody that pays attention to detail and really learns the technical and tactical pieces to play this game. That's really a huge part of spring practice." Last year, Bauer came into his own as a productive tag-team player with fifth-year senior Drew White at Mike linebacker. White usually played the first two downs (460 snaps, per Pro Football Focus), and Bauer (297 snaps) would often be inserted on third down or sub packages in his place. Possibly in the current scheme, White and Bauer could be on the field at the same time. "[Lea] asked us to know a lot of different rules and be very detail ori- ented, which is very important to our process," Bauer said. "But some- times it was difficult to play with your natural instincts. It was really a good time for me to be able to learn how to be part of a unit and do one job, so that was very important to my growth. "I do think it might be easier this year to learn both positions since [Freeman] has kind of already been teaching people all the positions, that they're all inter-connected and it's im- portant to know what the other peo- ple are doing at their own position. "… There's less complexity maybe in making calls and changing things right before the snap and more just knowing the rules and knowing how to execute." Whatever his role — including as a leader on special teams — Bauer will be the good soldier with any coordinator. "At the end of the day I'm here to serve those on my team," Bauer said. "I don't want any selfishness to take it away from the team." Some things don't change. ✦ Senior linebacker Bo Bauer, who logged 297 snaps in 2020, could find himself on the field more often in Freeman's defensive scheme. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS "He's more of a loose, free guy. … It didn't seem like such a tense atmosphere." SENIOR LINEBACKER BO BAUER ON FREEMAN AFTER THE FIRST SPRING PRACTICE