Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JUNE/JULY 2021 5 T he doors into Notre Dame's offseason retooling operation would open just this once. Between exiting the field after a College Football Playoff semifinal tap-out in January and starting fall camp in August, Saturday's Blue- Gold Game offered the media and the public this sole chance to take a peek inside — a setup that more eas- ily invites overreaction and rigid first impressions. If head coach Brian Kelly wanted to limit the opportunities for those, he could have split up the teams for the spring scrimmage starters ver- sus reserves, let the first unit handle the second and leave little of conse- quence to be discussed. Instead, though, they were carefully sorted with projected starters and backups on both. There were deliber- ate new groupings that hadn't worked together much in the last month. There was limited involvement or a day of precautionary rest from some estab- lished starters. There also was heavy usage of players who Kelly and his assistants have challenged to elevate their game and be reliable. Perhaps, Kelly was OK with ob- servers who successfully navigated the depths of their TVs or tablets and found Peacock's game stream want- ing more. He wants more. "The way I see it now is we're a good team, and good teams aren't good enough," Kelly said. "We need to be a great team. Good teams don't win a national championship. You need to be a great team. How do we get from good to great? That's where we are in this process." These two hours on a windy Sat- urday weren't a referendum on the Irish's ability to get there. To conclude based on a spring exhibition that this team's ceiling is already set below Kelly's standards would be a reach. What's clear, though, are the ar- eas where Notre Dame has the most progress to make. Most of those re- side on offense. This game and this spring were about identifying play- ers who can help not only shore up those areas, but push this entire op- eration close to the sport's seemingly always-ascending mountaintop. It starts on the offensive line, where the quest to replace three draft picks and four starters will head into Au- gust, if not the season. The spring stages of it were done without lone holdover Jarrett Patterson, who didn't practice due to injury. Kelly split the offensive line up to mix in ones and twos for the Blue- Gold Game. Both team's first lines contained probable backups next to potential starters — and were com- prised mostly of players who haven't seen significant in-game action. Early enrollee freshmen and potential start- ers Blake Fisher and Rocco Spindler were on separate units. As expected for anyone in their spot, they had good moments and rookie moments. "We're focused squarely on get- ting the best five," Kelly said. "The way to do that is put them in tough situations. Today was a tough situa- tion. We could've made it a lot easier for Rocco, Blake or Dillan Gibbons snapping for the first time. But that wouldn't have been the best thing for this football team moving forward." Elsewhere, a passing attack with- out its 2020 co-leading receiver (tight end Michael Mayer) and potential 2021 top wideout (Kevin Austin Jr.) funneled targets to players of out whom Kelly and the offensive staff have tried to wheedle another level. Senior receivers Joe Wilkins Jr., Braden Lenzy and Lawrence Keys III were targeted a combined 28 times — six fewer than their 2020 total. They had highlights, like their final stat line: 12 catches for 238 yards and a 30-plus yard reception each. There were lowlights, like Wilkins' drop on a hitch route and Keys' incorrect read on an option route. "That attention to detail is the next level with these guys we have to get," Kelly said. "They want to do it. They're capable of doing it. We're go- ing to stay the course and when they get there, they will ascend to the level we need them to play at." Quarterback? That's not settled either. Kelly admitted Thursday he wasn't likely to name a starter heading into summer workouts. Jack Coan acquitted himself better than challenger Drew Pyne, but bally- hooed freshman Tyler Buchner daz- zled and Kelly didn't close the door on him seeing the field this fall. "We're still trying to figure out our identity, honestly," running back Chris Tyree said. As a whole, Notre Dame is figur- ing itself out, too. But its end goal is known. Notre Dame will draw the cur- tains on the program once again as it continues in its pursuit of great- ness. A week of voluntary lifting, a recess and a mid-June start of sum- mer workouts are next. The Irish will emerge for media viewing — hope- fully — in Culver, Ind., for training camp in August. If not, the first look for anyone won't come until the sea- son opener at Florida State Sept. 5. There's a lot to solve between now and then, or now and sometime this fall. Will the answers be enough to take Notre Dame where it wants to go? "Nobody around here is inter- ested in good," Kelly said. "We want to be great. Getting that to go from good to great is the process we're in. That's what we're seeking in this offseason." ✦ Brian Kelly Wants More From His Team ENGEL'S ANGLE PATRICK ENGEL Patrick Engel has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since March 2020. He can be reached at pengel@blueandgold.com Kelly sees Notre Dame as a good squad, but that's not good enough for him. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS