Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY DAN MURPHY B ob Elliott knew Notre Dame's new defense was headed in the right direction this month when he started to hear the whispers. Elliott, Notre Dame's outside line- backers coach, likes to sit among the players during defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder's team meetings. He found in the past that his presence can help keep the guys focused on what many coaches turn into lengthy mono- logues and confusing lectures. That's not the case in a VanGorder chalk talk session, though. "He's a great teacher. Our meetings are very interactive," Elliott said. "He makes the players respond and talk and asks pointed questions like a law professor." No one is safe to sleepwalk through Notre Dame's defensive meetings for fear they might be called on next to add to the discussion. It got to the point this August where the Irish play- ers were so used to being asked to par- ticipate that Elliott could look around the room and see each of them qui- etly murmuring responses whenever VanGorder prepared to pose another question. "You'll see the players now answer- ing all the questions under their breath because they know it could be coming to them," said Elliott, a three-decade coaching veteran. "That's a great way to teach because that's the way it is on the field. You better know, and you better be ready to go." VanGorder 's souped-up Socratic method and a few fast learners in key positions have helped the Irish defense install more of its new scheme than the first-year coordinator anticipated head- ing into the final week of the offseason. There are still miles to go before anyone on the roster has mastered the endless array of moving parts that VanGorder has collected for his playbook during the last quarter century, but the coach said he's pleasantly surprised with their progress. MEDIA DAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE Notre Dame's defense has absorbed Brian VanGorder's complex scheme faster than he anticipated