Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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quick joke and a smile from beneath his trademark mustache won him the respect of his players early in the coaching transition. He and quarter- backs coach Matt LaFleur, who has spent the majority of his young career in the NFL as well, both brought new ideas to an open-minded Irish locker room this spring. College coaches are limited in the amount of time they can devote to ac- tual football by the heavy and always increasing demands of recruiting. VanGorder and LaFleur have had the luxury of not having to worry about where their players are coming from for the better part of the last decade. That provided more time to study the nuances of strategy and develop spe- cific drills to help the individuals they coach. For VanGorder, that extra time has translated into a detailed understand- ing of his defensive system that has wowed his assistants. "The in-depth part of this defense and the detail of this defense is amaz- ing to me," said outside linebackers coach Bob Elliott, who has spent his three decades of coaching at the col- lege level. "I've seen all these pieces before but only in pieces, never to- gether like this. He's got a great mind for defense and he's a great teacher. With Notre Dame kids and a great teacher, I think we've got a great chance to be multiple and detailed at Notre Dame." VanGorder 's scheme will shift the Irish from a 3-4 base to a team that lines up with four down linemen more often than not. Especially for the front end of the defense, there is more at- tacking and less reacting because of the new system. That has been a unan- imously welcome change. "It just allows us to play more ag- gressive," junior nose guard Jarron Jones said. "Not too much of a mental game, it's pretty much just whip the person that's in front of you and win the gap. It's a lot more fun that way." Head coach Brian Kelly said he doesn't blame Jones for having more fun in the new scheme. Nose guards in a 3-4 defense typically patrol mul- tiple gaps along the line of scrimmage and eat up blockers so that the players behind them can soak up the tackles. Notre Dame's defense will rely on a longer list of contributors to make plays this fall. Kelly said one of Van- Gorder's strengths that stood out this spring was his ability to identify spe- cific skills in individual players and find a way to put those to use in dif- ferent roles. For example, senior rush end An- thony Rabasa has bounced around al- most every position in the front seven during his first three years on campus. His size kept him stuck between a line- backer and a defensive lineman. Van- Gorder and the 4-3 scheme helped him find a spot as a situational pass rusher, where he is expected to get on the field in 2014. Senior Matthias Farley was also in danger of being trapped be- hind a logjam of young talent at safety despite starting most of the past two seasons there. VanGorder chose him to play the important role on nickel back this spring, where he can use his coverage skills and help the young safeties get settled. "He has a unique ability to pull