Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Martin, who played at the University of Kentucky from 1981-83]. When you've got a leader like that doing ev- erything right all the time, you'd be dumb not to learn from him. "The biggest thing was consistency, and that's one of the best compliments you can have in football. No matter what happens, what circumstances, he is going to get the job done." What has changed the most is the numbers and volume. Just two years ago when the Fighting Irish were making preparations to play Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game, the lack of bodies on the sec- ond unit made scrimmage work cau- tious and limited. Golic Jr. also was the No. 2 center, while Martin had to play both tackle spots and classmate Conor Hanratty both guard slots. In the four recruiting seasons from 2009-12, the Irish had a total of eight of- fensive line prospects, so just an injury or two made the unit fragile and led Martin to learn every position possible in case of an emergency. Over the past two seasons alone, Notre Dame has signed nine offensive linemen. In the opening practice at Culver Academies, Hiestand had 15 scholarship offensive linemen to work with — three full units, a first in decades at Notre Dame — plus freshman preferred walk-on Sam Bush. Furthermore, those who have been with the team at least one year have played at least one different position. "It's part of life, part of football," Martin said of the adjustment without longtime stalwarts such as his brother and left guard Chris Watt. "People leave and other people step up." A little more confidence occurs for the Notre Dame staff when one of them is named Martin. ✦