Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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consensus three-star recruit, Coleman has quickly adapted to Notre Dame's man coverage schemes and is on the verge of making a leap up the depth chart. It did not take for secondary coach Todd Lyght long to notice his skills. "After the first two practices I thought, 'This guy's going to be spe- cial,'" Lyght said. "He has great speed, and he can finish at the end of the route. … Nick's speed and recovery speed is off the charts." It was not just Coleman's swiftness that impressed his new position coach. Coleman, along with classmate Shaun Crawford, stood out with his attitude. So much so that Lyght reached back to his NFL playing days for a com- parison, and the similar player was a former NFL All-Pro. "Sometimes it takes younger guys time to play with a lot of confidence and be fundamentally sound and tech- nically sound, but these guys get it," Lyght said. "I love their confidence — they came in with extreme confidence. Their confidence reminds me of [for- mer NFL cornerback] Dre Bly's con- fidence when he came to the Rams as a rookie. They trust in their abilities." In the second week of fall camp, Crawford went down with a torn ACL, which means he will have to focus his confidence and attitude into rehabilitating his knee. A pair of running backs are using the suspension and transfer of running back Greg Bryant to work their way up the depth chart. The loss of Bryant and the camp hip flexor injury to C.J. Prosise has created additional repeti- tion opportunities for Josh Adams and Dexter Williams. At this point, Adams is ahead thanks to his smooth athletic skills and ability to quickly read and attack the line of scrimmage. The 6-1½, 212-pound run- ner has done a little bit of everything for the Irish thus far. He has slashed in the run game, caught the ball well out of the backfield and has an idea of what to do in pass protection. Freshman cornerback Nick Coleman has been a pleasant surprise for Notre Dame, impressing with his speed and confidence. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND