Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 MAY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED rison was all over the middle of the field. It's not just the wideouts, though, who have seen early returns from Den- brock's scheme. The running backs are buzzing, too. "A lot of 11 personnel [one tight end, one running back and three wide receiv- ers], a lot of opening up the run game and just feeling pressure," junior run- ning back Jadarian Price said. "There are a lot of things that help the run game and the pass game is really improved. "It's also given the running backs a chance to show what they can do in the passing game. … They trust us to catch the ball." Price said the Irish ran four or five running back screens during practice March 27, which was Day 6. Sophomore Jeremiyah Love is going through individ- ual drills and getting team reps at receiver, which puts his pass-catching and speed- in-space prowess on display even more. Love is still primarily a running back, but Notre Dame is cross-training him in the slot and out wide to prepare for personnel packages involving him there in the fall. "It's an opportunity to get Jeremiyah some specific training at receiver, like some of the nuanced things," running backs coach Deland McCullough said. "And not just say, 'Hey, go line up there and run a sluggo [slant and go]. Or just take off and run a go.' So, he gets some specific training there." Even in the run game, Love and Price have felt the effects of Denbrock using more 11 personnel as opposed to 12 or 13 personnel (multiple tight ends). Those lighter groupings spread the field more, creating more space in the box for Notre Dame's explosive backs to work. "Most definitely," Love said. "A lot more room. Last year, we were always in 12 or 13 [two or three tight ends]. Now we've got a lot more room to do things." "Just being able to rely on playmak- ers outside the box just helps you a lot, because then the defense has to look at them too," Price said. Freeman slightly pumped the brakes on Notre Dame's lean toward 11 person- nel, noting that injuries to tight ends have played a role in what the Irish have done in the spring. Senior Mitchell Ev- ans and graduate student Kevin Bauman are out for spring ball while recovering from their respective torn ACLs, while junior Eli Raridon has a minor injury and has been held out of most full-team activities. The Irish only have three healthy tight ends, which is part of why they've lived in 11 personnel in March. Freeman loves Denbrock's ability to adapt his scheme to his personnel, which helped draw him to the former LSU offensive coordinator in December. "The conversations I have with Coach Denbrock are that we are going to ulti- mately put the best guys on the field," Freeman said. "If we get into fall camp and we feel like our two tight ends give us a better chance to succeed than hav- ing three wideouts, then we will put two tight ends on the field, which I've seen him do at Cincinnati when we were down there." That being said, Denbrock explained in February that his offense would in- volve more 11 personnel than Notre Dame fans are used to. The idea was to open up the middle of the field for the run game, allowing backs with burst like Love and Price to break off more big plays. From the running backs' perspective, the system is working as advertised. "Coach Denbrock's offense, I would say, is more explosive," Love said. "He's doing more stuff with the backs, putting them out wide, putting them out in the slot. That's my type of play. "I really like that about Coach Den- brock. They have me running at slot, at running back, and that's what we're looking to do going forward." NEW FACES, MORE COMPETITION UP FRONT Tentatively, Notre Dame's first-team offensive line is sophomore Charles Jag- usah at left tackle, senior Pat Coogan at left guard, junior Ashton Craig at center, junior Billy Schrauth at right guard and graduate student Tosh Baker at right tackle. It's a work in progress. Most O-lines that lose a projected top-10 pick and a projected Day 2 pick at left and right tackle, respectively, will be. The com- petition at guard (a now-healthy senior Rocco Spindler fighting to earn his job back) and right tackle (Baker looking to Junior Jadarian Price and the other Irish running backs have been given a chance to show what they can do in the passing during spring practice. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER