Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 MAY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA C omfortability is a real thing in college football coaching. And that isn't just for head coaches and offensive and defensive coordinators. Year 1 to Year 2 leaps are for special teams coaches, too. Just more than 365 days ago, Marty Biagi arrived at Notre Dame from Ole Miss four days before the start of spring practices. He's got an extensive coach- ing résumé for his age (he graduated from Marshall after serving as a punter and placekicker there from 2004-08) that dates back to his days as a co-de- fensive coordinator at Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2011. He's had six stops since then, including Notre Dame twice in addition to fellow Power Five programs Purdue and Mississippi. But four days to prepare for the rigors of spring ball are not nearly enough. His head was spinning at this time last year. It's staying straight now. "Just knowing the flow of practice, on a special teams five-minute or seven- minute period, one or two extra reps can be a difference for a lot of people in teaching," Biagi said. "We're trying to be really efficient and having all these guys knowing the system we can really get into the intentionality of the drill. "Not just 'We're doing this drill' — now it's really showing them how it worked last year, showing them clips of how it worked with Notre Dame play- ers doing it and now we really want to enhance a lot of it." It helps to have familiar faces. Com- fortability is real for players, too. But Biagi is working with many new ones. Notre Dame will have a new long snap- per for the first time in several years with Michael Vinson moving on to the next level. The Irish will also have a fourth different placekicker in the last four years. Jayden Harrison was an All- American returner at Marshall but can he get acclimated and be the same ex- plosive player at Notre Dame? Here's more on those three storylines. SETTLING ON A SNAPPER Junior Rino Monteforte, all 5-foot-7, 193 pounds of him, is in a competition with sophomore Andrew Kros in a battle to succeed Vinson, a four-year starter for the Irish. Monteforte spent two years learn- ing from Vinson. Kros got one year as a third-string understudy under his belt. They both would love to emulate their predecessor, a beloved figure on and off the field. "I take a lot of inspiration from him just because he came in, fought for the starting job and then kept it throughout his entire time here," Kros said. "That's something I'm looking to hopefully follow." Biagi has three main characteristics of snapping he's looking for in the even- tual starter. "Accuracy first, always," he said. "Consistency. Those two would be Col- umn A, and then velocity. We want to get the snap back there." Monteforte and Kros have also been active participants in tackling circuits FINDING A COMFORT ZONE This spring is about practicing with intentionality and determining roles for Notre Dame special teamers Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi is in his second season with the program. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER