Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY LOU SOMOGYI O n the final day of training camp (Aug. 21) and just prior to the start of the fall semester at Notre Dame, the media was allowed to attend the practice session. That is until the final 40 minutes, when head coach Brian Kelly did something he claims he hadn't since the early 1990s when he was starting out as the head coach at Grand Valley State. "We went live on kickoff and kickoff return today," Kelly said after the prac- tice. "A lot of punt returns — put in some live fakes. That's why you were escorted out of the building." No play in football is more violent or dangerous than kick returns, so coaches generally are reluctant to en- gage in too much live work there. Yet the quantity and quality of linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties on the 2015 roster prompted less consternation about potential injuries and elicited more competition as a way to get on the field. Normally, special teams coverage and returns are where freshmen make their bones. In Kelly's first game at Notre Dame, five true freshmen lined up for the Irish on the opening kickoff. Those days have changed. A few rookies might still find their way on to the units this year, but spe- cial teams coordinator/tight ends coach Scott Booker is especially grati- fied to see older, proven bodies such as fifth-year seniors Matthias Farley, Jar- rett Grace and Avery Sebastian, junior James Onwualu, and even sophomores such as Greer Martini, Nyles Morgan, Nick Watkins and Drue Tranquill, who started off on special teams last year, remain as mainstays a year later. "It takes time to get depth," Booker said. "… We could have six, seven guys who have played over 100 snaps on special teams." However, it's two first-time start- ers on special teams who will under- standably garner the most attention. Freshman kicker Justin Yoon and sophomore punter Tyler Newsome, who redshirted last season, could help make the difference between another status quo 9-3 or 8-4 campaign, and a major bowl or even College Football Playoff contention. The graduation of record-setting Kyle Brindza led Kelly to instantly anoint Yoon as the starter on National Signing Day. Sidelined by a back injury most of his senior season at Massachu- setts' Milton Academy, Yoon was still ranked as the No. 1 kicking prospect in the country by Rivals and Kohl's Kicking for the class of 2015. In the Under Armour All-American Game Jan. 2, Yoon converted all three of his field goal attempts, highlighted by a game-record 47-yarder. During the two-week August camp, Kelly was provided no reason to sec- ond-guess his February declaration. Halfway through it, Kelly revealed that Yoon's chart show he's converted all 18 of his field goal attempts, with nine of them between the 30- and 39- yard lines, and four beyond 40 yards. The operation time from snap to kick also has been 1.21 seconds, which Kelly noted was as quick as the Irish ever have had. "Hits the ball solid, very consistent,