Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/366772
Gorder thought if NFL players could be this involved in their meetings, college guys that were used to taking classes every day should be able to do the same. The free-flowing conversation didn't start right away at Notre Dame. Van- Gorder, who has a football brain as intimidating as his stern voice, needed to break the ice. He said players got less tense this spring when he showed them he was there to have some fun, too. When asked if he could think of an example of how he loosened the room, he smiled. "Not that I could share with you," he said. Both coaches heaped praise on the traffic directors of the defense — their inside linebackers and safeties — for being an important part of getting the team off to a better-than-expected start. Elliott said senior Joe Schmidt, sophomore Jaylon Smith and fifth- year senior Austin Collinsworth are all quick learners that pulled the rest of their teammates along with them during the offseason. Schmidt, especially, seems to have separated himself from the pack when it comes to understanding what the Irish are trying to do on defense. "He's an outstanding communicator and extremely intelligent," VanGorder said. "He's as good as I've had in a first-year guy. He's been a huge sur- prise in that way. I never had a college kid that can learn like he's learned." The former walk-on turned irreplace- able cog said he tracked down Van- Gorder soon after the coach was hired in January to try to pick his brain and connect with him. Schmidt said once he could speak the same language, he and his coach were able to diagnose and solve problems on the run. "It's fun going into meetings and knowing we're going to learn a lot today," Schmidt said. "I want to do as much as we can because I want to learn everything … there is so much left to absorb." For the linebackers on both his sides, everything is a new learning experience. Sophomores James On- wualu and Smith are both starters in positions they've never played before. Having to teach both of them gave VanGorder relatively low expectations about where the core of his defense could be at the start of the season, but he's been impressed by their thirst for knowledge. Neither seems willing to skate by using their athletic ability. "Jaylon is as smart a kid as I've ever coached," Elliott said. "Coach Van- Gorder has done a great job bringing him along. I'm just amazed at how he's taken to it." There's still a lot to learn for a group that is expected to start at least seven underclassmen against Rice in the season opener with many more rotat- ing into the lineup. VanGorder said it takes professional players about three full seasons to fully grasp the entirety of the defense he's trying to install in South Bend. His younger players aren't even on the same scale yet, but they're doing better than expected. How is that? "Must be great coaching," VanGorder said. "And we have smart kids." Perhaps it's a little bit of both. ✦ MEDIA DAY