Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/651219
BY LOU SOMOGYI A ny longtime devotee of Notre Dame football knows the history about third-year head coaches. That season has generally de- fined whether he would become a leg- end — or at least be around beyond more than five years — or be removed from his position in five seasons or less. In 2016, however, the question is whether the third season make-or-break pattern also will apply to Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. The last time Kelly had a third-year defensive coordinator at Notre Dame was the 2012 campaign, when the Fight- ing Irish defense carried the team to the national title game while yielding only 124 points during the regular season for an average of 10.3 per game — the school's best figure in 32 years. It earned that year's coordinator, Bob Diaco, the Frank Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant, and eventually landed him the head coaching position at Connecticut in 2014. Interestingly, VanGorder also has won the Broyles Award — and likewise in year three at Georgia in 2003. The upcoming season may consti- tute a now-or-never campaign for Van- Gorder after what he has described as "inconsistent" play by the Fighting Irish defense his first two seasons. Year one in 2014 was a dramatic tran- sition in philosophy from Diaco's more conservative two-gap defense that put a premium on not yielding the huge plays and operating on a principle that the fandom typically despises because of its perceived passivity: bend, but don't break. Year Three: a Defining Time Defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder's troops must step more to the forefront 2015 DEFENSIVE STATS Among 128 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivi- sion, here were Notre Dame's final rankings on defense at the end of 2015: Rushing Defense: 72nd — 175.6 yards allowed per game Total Defense: 45th — 372.7 yards per game Scoring Defense: 39th — 24.1 points given up per game Red-Zone Defense: 43rd — 80.5 percent Turnovers Forced: Tied 109th — 14 Third-Down Conversions: 32nd — 35.1 percent