Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY ANDREW OWENS N ow in year two at the helm of the Irish defense and with a — relatively speaking — healthier defense, coordinator Brian VanGorder is beginning to look at which players will cross-train lead- ing up to the season opener against Texas Sept. 5. A logjam at Mike linebacker with returning starter and fifth-year se- nior Joe Schmidt, sophomore Nyles Morgan and fifth-year senior Jarrett Grace (who returned to the field this spring for the first time since his Octo- ber 2013 leg injury), prompted Notre Dame to cross-train within that posi- tion group in order to get its best play- ers on the field as much as possible. Jaylon Smith, who as a junior could develop into one of the nation's most dominant players, moved inside last season to the Will linebacker spot. He will start there again in 2015, but he has cross-trained on the outside at Sam linebacker. With Morgan, Schmidt or freshman early enrollee Will line- backer Te'von Coney all capable of stepping in at Will, Notre Dame can take advantage of Smith's talents on the edge. "We've only done it a couple times, so not enough information there yet, but he's fine," VanGorder said of Smith late in the spring. "The first day we did it he looked real good, especially when we ran some pressure with him. He looked like you'd expect him to look." It's not yet determined just how much of his time will be spent at Sam linebacker. "I'd say that depends on how much the backup Will linebackers come along," VanGorder said. "We'll pos- sibly cross-train Joe [Schmidt], who's very bright, at Mike and Will. That's ideally in our system that we can start cross-training linebackers. "We just haven't had the ability to do so. Last year, we were real short in numbers and we got injuries coming into spring ball … we've got a backup Will linebacker who just came from high school that you're trying to see how he's going to come along. Now he's injured, battling some things. "We're holding ourselves back with guys that are not participating in prac- tice. Second half of the season that's what it's been, spring ball that's kind A Fresh START Notre Dame hopes it has worked out the wrinkles in year two of defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder's scheme