Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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itly. "They have been there for me from the beginning," he said. "They've al- ways been there for me. They want the best for me, and that's kind of hard to find." *** Brent's time in the 40-yard dash dropped from 4.7 seconds to 4.52 sec- onds after a year of diligent training. The speed and all of the extra muscle that came with it paid off this past fall when he moved from wide receiver to running back for his team. The Sparkplugs lost the all-state quarterback who threw 13 touch- down passes to Brent a year earlier. Head coach Denny Pelley said they didn't have someone who could get the ball in their star 's hands consis- tently enough in the passing game. So Brent, who also started at safety and returned kicks, volunteered to move to the backfield. "He came to me and said he was willing to go to tailback for us, and he carried us," Pelley said. "It was a dif- ferent thing for him, but a good thing for him in the long run." Brent added hand-off and footwork drills to his growing daily workout regimen in the summer. He rushed for 1,315 yards in his first year at the position since junior high and made the Class 2A all-state first team. He emerged unscathed after an 8-4 season with a new physical edge with the ball in his hands. Most wide receivers don't have to fight for space like Brent did as a se- nior. He said he thinks the experience will help him power through tackles and pick up yards after contact in the future — a missing element in Notre Dame's group of wide receivers. He now joins a group of Irish pass catchers in flux. Top 2013 targets TJ Jones and tight end Troy Niklas are bound for the NFL. Brent will have a chance to latch on to the pack of ris- ing contributors this spring while top returner DaVaris Daniels waits in aca- demic purgatory for a semester. The door is open for a newcomer, and espe- cially one with the physical qualifica- tions that Brent brought to campus. "I want to come in and contribute from the wide receiver position as much as possible," he said. "I try not to do anything out of the ordinary, but at the same time I want to contribute. That's my biggest goal." There's no doubt he'll work for it. ✦ FILM ANALYSIS Strengths Brent is capable of getting open and utilizing the holes in the defense to move the sticks … Reacts to the football extremely well and able to adjust his body positioning to make the play … Confident going over the middle to make a play and has a fearless approach to the game … Looks the ball into his hands well and capable of turning an off-the-mark pass into a big-time play. Areas To Improve The area he'll continue to work on is speed and he's already taking the necessary steps by deciding to run track … His coach reports that the first couple of steps off of the line have im- proved and he expects continued strides moving forward … Besides keeping the ball high and tight when breaking out of a comeback route to protect the football more, he'll also looking to improve using athleticism to high point the football.