Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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while attempting to replace the for- midable and graduated duo of Martin and Chris Watt, was switched to right tackle in August … and by the fourth game was "back home" at right guard. With 17 career starts, Elmer is a sea- soned veteran but has just now settled into concentrating on one spot where he can best excel on the subtleties of the position while maintaining conti- nuity. "That was the most important thing — not having to focus on multiple spots," said Elmer this spring. "…It's not just knowing what you're doing — because I felt comfortable with the as- signments — but realizing what's go- ing on with the defense right now and being able to make a snap decision." All the position changes in Elmer's first two seasons kept him off balance. That often led to problems staying bal- anced on his feet in game action, espe- cially in pass blocking, and put him on the ground more often than the staff wanted to see. "We thought he was sloppy at times, and he's really cleaned up a lot of those unforced errors in technique," said head coach Brian Kelly, who clas- sified Elmer one of the most improved players this spring. "He's really become so much more technically sound. He's a big, strong kid, and once he's eliminated a lot of those [unforced errors] it's allowed him to work so much more efficiently with [McGlinchey]." "He's done significantly better," agreed fourth-year offensive line coach Harry Hiestand on Elmer. "There is no substitute for experience, to playing