Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE 2015 for a fifth year. Yet, Schmidt is still willing to help make Morgan the best player he can be the rest of the season, even if it means Schmidt risking his starting job next season by doing so. Now that's a teammate. "He'll absolutely be working with us as soon as we get him out of sur- gery and up and around," Kelly said of Schmidt's lasting value. "He'll be a coach on the field for us. There's no question." Through Spond's teaching and coaching, Smith quickly evolved from an overwhelmed freshman into one of the brightest young linebackers in the country last season and a pre- season All-American this year. And with Schmidt's willingness to share his wealth of knowledge, there is nothing to suggest a similar transformation won't happen for Morgan the last five games of this season. No disrespect is intended to Schmidt here because — through smarts, sweat and success — he has become the most inspirational player on the Irish this season and the definition of Notre Dame student-athlete. But Schmidt joined the team as a walk-on player, while Morgan came to Notre Dame as the No. 3 prep inside linebacker in the country according to 247Sports, bringing with his lofty recruiting rank- ing high expectations similar to what Smith faced. Losing Schmidt's strong voice and eight tackles a game won't be easy. But given everything the Irish defense has already endured this season through injuries and suspensions, expect Mor- gan to fill-in seamlessly like so many others have, and perhaps even change the look to how Notre Dame plays defense. "Nyles opens up a whole new path to some things that we couldn't do with Joe that we are pretty excited we can do with Nyles," Kelly said. Like almost any freshman, Morgan still lacks the awareness at his posi- tion, a quality that made Schmidt such a valuable player. But through natural athleticism, added reps and Schmidt's guidance, Morgan will see his learning curve accelerate in the coming weeks as he takes his place in the starting lineup, a spot where so many expected him to begin this season. "Morgan's physical ability is prob- ably his biggest trait," Kelly explained, admitting that Morgan's presence provides the Irish defense additional schematic options. "He's fast, he's ath- letic, he's strong. He has all of those traits that allow him to play that posi- tion and make up for maybe the lack of recognition that Joe had." Whether Morgan becomes a perma- nent starter at middle linebacker for years to come, or if he's just tempo- rarily holding the position down for Schmidt's return next season remains to be seen — and really, it doesn't matter. What does matter is the willingness of one player to make another better, even if it means perhaps losing a start- ing position because of it. But you know, that's just Joe. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com