Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1494359
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2023 35 BY PATRICK ENGEL N otre Dame knew it would have turnover at the two pri- mary specialist spots. The Irish didn't expect to need to hire a new special teams coordinator, though. But Brian Mason's March 4 departure to the NFL for the same job with the Indianapolis Colts left Marcus Freeman's staff without arguably its best assistant and the architect of a high-end special teams unit. Notre Dame ended the 2022 season No. 6 in the Fremeau Efficiency Index's special teams ranking in Mason's lone season on staff, its highest finish since the metric's 2007 creation. Mason lived up to his goal of creating chaos on special teams, helping Notre Dame tie for the national lead in blocked kicks (7). The man Freeman identified as Mason's replacement, Ole Miss special teams coordinator Marty Biagi, has a history of creating splashy plays. His 2017-19 North Texas special teams units blocked 10 kicks and scored 5 return touchdowns. On the personnel side, Notre Dame lost kicker Blake Grupe and punter Jon Sot, both graduate transfer additions last year. Also gone is punt returner Brandon Joseph, who declared for the 2023 NFL Draft. Elsewhere, though, the infrastructure is intact. Linebackers Prince Kollie (231) and Jack Kiser (204) were the leaders in special teams snaps. Defensive end Jordan Botelho, cornerback Ben- jamin Morrison and cornerback Clarence Lewis were punt block mainstays. Running back Chris Tyree has handled kick return duties since 2020. Long snapper Michael Vinson returned for a sixth season. Mason mined the graduate transfer marker last year to find Grupe (Arkansas State) and Sot (Harvard). He went that same route again to replace them before he left. Former South Florida kicker Spencer Shrader chose the Irish in December and will arrive in June after he graduates this spring. He was South Florida's primary placekicker the last three years and handled kickoffs all four seasons there. His career field goal numbers (28 of 41) aren't inspiring, but that line is weighed down by a 4-of-9 performance as a freshman and operational errors that were a factor in at least one of his misses in 2022. Shrader was 9 of 13 on field goals last year. Notre Dame is banking on him rediscovering his 2021 form (11 of 13, long of 52 yards). Notre Dame also added punter Ben Krimm, a walk- on graduate transfer from the University of Pennsylva- nia. He will likely be behind scholarship sopho- more Bryce McFerson when he enrolls in June. 2023 SPRING FOOTBALL OVERVIEW SPEC I A L T E A M S NUMBERS TO KNOW 11 Times in 13 games last year Notre Dame won the field-position battle. That included five straight games where the Irish had at least a 10-yard positive dif- ference in net field position from their opponent. 33.4 Average starting field position for Notre Dame in 2022, which led the country. That's according to Brian Mason himself, who tweeted a thread of the Irish's special teams stats after the season. 80.65 Spencer Shrader 's touchback rate on kickoffs at South Florida last year, which ranked fourth in the FBS. POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH PUNT RETURNER Safety Brandon Joseph's departure means Notre Dame will have a new punt returner. Will it be graduate student receiver Matt Salerno, who filled in for Joseph at times last year and held the job in 2020? Could oth- ers who worked at punt returner in practice last year — or a newcomer — seize the job? Junior receiver Lorenzo Styles and sophomore running back Gi'Bran Payne have caught punts in practice and could be more serious challengers for the job this spring. ALL EYES ON … SOPHOMORE PUNTER BRYCE McFERSON McFerson was the No. 6 punter in the 2022 class in the On3 Industry Ranking and the top-rated one by Chris Sailer kicking. He won the Irish's kickoff job almost immediately after fall camp began, but a groin strain knocked him out for the start of the season. The Irish chose to redshirt him. He's healthy and primed to take over as the punter in 2023. PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coach: Marty Biagi (first sea- son; yet to be officially announced as of March 7) Returning Starter: Gr LS Michael Vinson Departing Starters: PK Blake Grupe and P Jon Sot Projected New Starters: Gr. PK Spencer Shrader and So. P Bryce McFerson PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER MICHAEL VINSON