Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEDIA DAY Dame's performance in the red zone — Notre Dame finished 100th nation- ally in touchdown conversion percent- age at 53.33 last season — will be im- proved in 2014. "We have to keep it in perspective when we talk about red zone and the efficiency in red zone," he said. "Where we missed in the red zone was touchdowns. ... What we're really looking at more than anything else is being more aggressive in play calling and getting the ball into the end zone. That requires us to have a plan to get the ball in the end zone. "Sometimes you just have to be a little bit more aggressive in your play calls. We've got to score, and I made it pretty clear that we need to score more touchdowns down there." In the red zone, everything will go through senior starting quarterback Everett Golson, who has greatly ma- tured as a team leader the past two years, Kelly said. "He was spotty in attendance [early on]," Kelly said. "He was late at times. He wasn't doing the things leaders do. Now he's first to everything. He's the first one to speak up if things aren't going well. He's matured, and he knows what great leadership looks like, and he's paid attention to it and knows what it looks like. "Now he's that guy out in front, and he's not the guy behind. That comes with maturity, and that comes with knowing what good leadership looks like." PERSONNEL UPDATES • Kelly listed Bryant and fifth-year senior cornerback Cody Riggs as the team's punt returners, while senior slot receiver Amir Carlisle will handle kickoff returns. Senior Kyle Brindza will take on a trifecta of duties — field goals, punts and kickoffs — for the second straight year. • Midway through camp, Kelly an- nounced freshman defensive end An- drew Trumbetti as the team's starting weakside defensive end. On media day, he noted that three freshmen — Daniel Cage, Jhonny Williams and Grant Blankenship — had earned spots on the second-team defensive line. • Kelly named sophomore line- backer James Onwualu the starter at strongside (Sam) linebacker, but added that senior Ben Councell will see significant time, particularly against physical fronts. Junior John Turner will also contribute at the po- sition. Onwualu played wide receiver in 2013 before practicing at safety in the spring and then eventually moving to Sam. "He got a chance to learn the defense from the back end. You learn so much of the defense at the safety position, so he had a pretty good knowledge base back there," Kelly said. "If it was just his first time there, I probably would have been more surprised. It's the Sam backer position, so we're not asking him to do everything inside out — it's more outside in. "He cares so much. He's got so much pride that he spends hours just mastering his craft. He will not take a minute off." ✦