Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/366772
UNDER THE DOME A Notre Dame d e f e n s i v e l i n e that this spring al- ready graduated Louis Nix III and Kona Schwenke and saw the early exit of junior Ste- phon Tuitt to the NFL took another hit when Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly an- nounced Aug. 1 that senior Tony S p r i n g m a n n ' s football career is finished. S p r i n g m a n n was sidelined in 2013 and during 2014 spring prac- tice because of a torn ACL, but a lingering back problem is what pre- vented him from being medically approved to play this season. His f o o t b a l l s c h o l a r s h i p will be transferred over to a general university grant-in-aid for medical reasons. In 2012, Spring- mann and then fresh- man Sheldon Day were the top defensive line re- serves, with the former totaling 11 tackles in his 12 game appearances. Kelly indicated that Springmann will remain connected this season while working with the defensive linemen in practice. "Tony has done a great job of mentoring a lot of our younger players in the program," Kelly said. "He's shown great l e a d e r s h i p a n d great resolve in coming back from his knee injury." This fall, Spring- mann was pro- jected to comple- ment starter and junior Jarron Jones at nose guard/ defensive tackle. W i t h o u t h i m , other interior line candidates behind J o n e s i n c l u d e fifth-year senior J u s t i n U t u p o , sophomore Jacob M a t u s k a ( w h o w a s re d s h i r t e d l a s t y e a r ) , a n d freshmen Daniel Cage and Peter Mokwuah (both of whom weighed in at 325 pounds). T h e o t h e r i n t e r i o r starter, Day, was backed up during the spring by senior Chase Hounshell — who missed the last two seasons with a torn labrum —but Utupo and freshman Jonathan Bon- ner worked their way into the two-deep at dif- ferent points during pre- season practice. Tony Springmann's Football Career Ends Springmann, who made 11 tackles in 12 career games, missed the 2013 campaign after suffering a torn ACL and was dealing with a lingering back problem this past spring before hanging up his cleats. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA