Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MAY 2023 33 So, even in a year in which junior line- backer Prince Kollie might finally be ready to take on more of a role in the middle of the Irish defense, expect him to pace the pack once again on special teams. Kollie played 231 special teams snaps last year, 27 more than the next man in line. Second place belonged to Jack Kiser, now a graduate student line- backer who plays a prominent role on defense week in and week out. Kiser has often been banged up in his four going on five years as an Irish player. He still gives everything he has to special teams. Those extra reps are badges of honor at Notre Dame. That won't change un- der Biagi. "He's come in and is kind of fortu- nate because we already feel like we're ramped up for ST," Kollie said. "He's going to enhance what he can and fix us where he can. He's doing a really good job so far." Still, without Foskey and Mason, 7 blocks is going to be a tough number for Notre Dame to reach again. The Irish don't have to get there for it to be deemed a successful special teams sea- son, though. They just need to exhibit the same sort of drive and reverence for the third phase of the game. That doesn't seem to be going any- where. Mason's lone year with the team and what he practiced and preached is still resonating with his former players. "He's a guru," Kollie said. "He's really high on my list because he watches film and dissects film like I've never seen. The schemes he would come up, he was really good at that. I'm sure Coach Biagi is the same way." Notre Dame finished No. 6 in the Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI) rat- ings in 2022. It was the Irish's best fin- ish in the metric since its creation in 2007. Biagi doesn't just have a stan- dard of 7 blocks to live up to. He has an all-encompassing top-10 mark in the country glaring right back at him. Biagi was the special teams coordinator at Ole Miss last year. The Rebels finished No. 99 in the FEI. In Biagi's time as Purdue's special teams coordinator, the Boilermakers finished No. 103 in 2021 and No. 114 in 2020. His best season as a special teams coordinator as it relates to the metric came in 2017 when he guided North Texas to a No. 18 finish. Biagi has never worked with such a wealth of riches. Prior numbers won't mean a thing so long as he can take what Mason started and continue it. After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. "I think it's an energy and a mindset," Biagi said. "Whether you have different mantras, it's still an energy that's set, which really begins at the top. When you have a head coach here that has the buy-in, it makes it so much easier be- cause you're not having to sell and rec- reate. It's, 'Hey, guys, here's the stan- dard, here's what we're going to do,' and the head coach is giving you the free- dom of 'Let's go attack.' "I'm going to be the same way. I'm big on attacking. I'm going to create the en- ergy we can get to make game-changing plays." ✦ Junior linebacker Prince Kollie led Notre Dame with 231 special teams reps in 2022. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Spring 2023 Special Teams Depth Chart Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's projection for how Notre Dame's 2023 depth chart looks after observing a couple spring practices. Kicker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. — Spencer Shrader 6-2 190 Gr./1 92 Zac Yoakam 5-8 192 So./3 Punter No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 14 Bryce McFerson 6-1½ 190 So./4 — Ben Krimm 6-2 205 Gr./1 Long Snapper No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 65 Michael Vinson 6-2 235 Gr./1 51 Rino Monteforte 5-7 210 So./4 "I think it's an energy and a mindset. Whether you have different mantras, it's still an energy that's set, which really begins at the top. … I'm going to create the energy we can get to make game- changing plays." SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR MARTY BIAGI