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linebackers Senior Cat linebacker Prince Shembo posted career highs in total stops (51), tackles for loss (10.5) and sacks (7.5) in 2012, finishing second on the team in the latter two categories. photo by bill panzica you seen a silverback gorilla? They're not the tallest, but they're long and they're quick. I can pretty much say I'm kind of like that. If there's any animal that's probably it — low to the ground smacking every one." Junior Ishaq Williams (6-5, 261 pounds) doesn't have the same lowto-the-ground advantages that Shembo plays with, but he is once again a player to watch for a breakout season this fall. The five-star prospect out of Brooklyn has needed two full seasons to mature into a college player with the knowledge and work ethic to succeed. On paper, he's been a candidate to be an impact player since he showed up in South Bend. He matched Grace's eight tackles during the spring game this past year and impressed coaches enough during the offseason to convince them he needed to get on the field in 2013 one way or another. Williams occasionally worked at defensive end this spring. Diaco said he thinks Williams will add another 10-15 plays per game while giving the defensive line another layer of depth. Behind him Notre Dame really begins to flex the depth it has built at the outside linebacker spot. Sophomore Romeo Okwara and incoming freshman Doug Randolph are both the type of athletes that would have forced themselves onto the field four or five years ago. Okwara checks in a 6-4, 258 pounds despite the fact that he's still only 18 years old. Randolph is an inch shorter and about 25 pounds lighter. He's a versatile 8 10.5 146 By The Numbers Teams that failed to gain at least 100 yards on the ground against the Notre Dame defense last fall. Alabama ran for the most with 264 yards. Oklahoma had the least with 15 net yards. Tackles for loss made by outside linebacker Prince Shembo in 2012. The other four linebackers who started for the Irish combined to make 11.5 tackles for loss. Career tackles for fifth-year senior Carlo Calabrese, which is the highest total for any member of the Notre Dame defense heading into the fall. linebacker who could end up at a few different spots before his career is over, but he'll likely begin his freshman year as a special teams threat. Pack of Dogs The depth chart is equally stacked on the opposite end of the defense where senior Danny Spond heads into his second season as the starter at Dog linebacker. Spond's career was in serious doubt a year ago. In August, he was temporarily paralyzed by a severe migraine headache. He missed the first two games of the season, but became one of the most underrated members of the Irish defense in the 11 games that followed. Spond recorded 39 tackles and an interception while expanding the role of the Dog linebacker. He, at times, played the role of defensive back for a short-handed secondary in passing situations. Other times he was asked to take on pulling offensive linemen that outweighed him by at least 50 pounds and hold his ground. "We're having totally different conversations with that position in 2013 than we were having in 2009 and 2010," Diaco said. "Those players that have been in the program for a while, we can have many more conversations about the small, finite teaching that will put them on plays faster. Rather than a late reaction to a bubble screen now, based on alignment and formation and game situation, maybe the player will be on that play that much faster." Top Season Tackle Totals By An Irish LB Since 1990 Rk. Player (Year) Tackles 1. Manti Te'o (2010) 133 2. Manti Te'o (2011) 128 3. Demetrius DuBose (1991) 127 4. Bobbie Howard (1998) 118 5. Courtney Watson (2003) 117 Rk. Player (Year) 6. Manti Te'o (2012) 7. Jimmy Friday (1997) 8. Joe Brockington (2006) 9. Lyron Cobbins (1995) 10. Maurice Crum (2006) Tackles 113 109 108 105 100 92 ✦ Blue & Gold Illustrated 2013 Football Preview 90-95.LBs.indd 92 6/25/13 3:33 PM