Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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coach a good back; I'm not looking to coach even a great back. I want to coach a back that wants to be legend- ary. Great is not good enough.' It's set- ting the bar high to really getting those guys to develop. "The physical part, all these young men have that. It's the mental that al- lows them to be consistent which al- lows you to be legendary. That's what we'll work a lot on." When asked what will make him successful at Notre Dame despite his limited coaching background, Denson didn't hesitate. "I understand the culture of Notre Dame," he said. "I made that decision when I was 18 years old to come here because I wanted to compete in the classroom, because I wanted to com- pete against the best in the country. It's no different as a coach. "Notre Dame is like no other place. That's why you either love us or you hate us, and even the people that hate us, they still kind of want to snoop around and see what the mystique is about. That definitely plays into it and it helps understanding the culture." Lyght recognizes he doesn't have all the answers and that defensive coor- dinator Brian VanGorder will mentor him as a coach while also helping with the safeties. "Just because you were a good player doesn't necessarily make you a good coach," Lyght said. "As a player, I was one that was always trying to learn and trying to master fundamen- tals and techniques." Lyght said he has been around Hall of Fame coaches, mediocre and even poor ones. He was able to glean much from each. "There's a difference between teach- ing championship football and teach- ing football," Lyght said. "I teach championship football." ✦ Denson, who is Notre Dame's all-time leading rusher with 4,318 yards, wowed head coach Brian Kelly in his interview to earn the running backs coach job over more experienced candidates. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND