Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Here's the class-by-class breakdown strictly for defensive line recruits: 2014 SENIORS: TONY SPRINGMANN (6-5½, 296) AND CHASE HOUNSHELL (6-4¼, 271) Springmann's major knee surgery is projected to keep him sidelined this spring, in part because an infection curtailed the healing process, and he is not expected to suit up until August. Hounshell will be monitored closely given the circumstances of the past two years, so any contributions from him will be like a bonus. Springmann was active and produc- tive as a relief man for the stellar 2012 unit, recording 11 stops, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. His greatest value is he can line up at any of the three positions in the 3-4, most notably nose guard — where the void is most acute with the gradua- tion of Nix, Kona Schwenke and Tyler Stockton. The simple conclusion from the out- side looking in is Notre Dame should scrap the 3-4 and go more exclusively to a 4-3 look because its personnel might be better suited for it. Nevertheless, in the search to re- place 2010-13 defensive coordina- tor Bob Diaco, now the head coach at Connecticut, Kelly reiterated that experience at running both 3-4 and 4-3 alignments is mandatory because Notre Dame would continue to em- ploy both. Kelly noted it's been about 50- 50 anyway with the two schemes throughout his tenure, and it's neces- sary because of the various type of offenses Notre Dame plays, plus the constant fluctuation of opponents, es- pecially with five new ACC teams ro- tating into the schedule in three-year increments. "As long as we have the ability to play both three and four down [line- men], and we have the ability to adjust to playing option, playing spreads, our defensive coaches and the schedule that we have, [we've[ got to have a great deal of flexibility," Kelly said. "The defensive coordinator has got to have that ability to handle a variety of different offenses. It can't be, 'Well, I just do this.' We've got to have some flexibility, and to do that you've got to be able to run both three down and four down." 2014 JUNIORS: SHELDON DAY (6-2, 290) AND JARRON JONES (6-5½, 305) This tandem is the new fulcrum of the line, but Nix/Tuitt is a tough act to follow. Nix and Tuitt could be the first Notre Dame first-round defensive line combo to be drafted the same year since Walt Patulski and Mike Kadish in 1972. The ensuing season without them saw the defense take a dramatic downturn. A high ankle sprain limited Day for a good portion of 2013, but his 33 tack- les (5.5 for loss with 0.5 sacks) were second to Tuitt's 49 among Irish line- men. His 56 career tackles are easily the most among returning linemen, nearly tripling Jones' 20. Jones passes the eye test and came a long way in the second half of the sea- son after getting demoted to the scout team. If he and Springmann can form a healthy tag-team tandem at nose guard when the Irish align in a 3-4, that would be a tremendous boost. Scouts had