Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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its times. I'm not used to sitting down and being on the sideline, but that's just what comes with playing at a big school like Notre Dame, a great school. It's all about patience." Remaining patient has enabled Watkins to wait in the wings and be ready at a moment's notice. "It takes a lot of hard work and determination," he said. "You can't give up when things don't go your way. The chips are down and it's how you respond to everything. That's still what I'm learning — how to respond and be a great player for this team. "We've had a lot of injuries, but we preach 'next man in' and that's just the way it is. That's how Coach Kelly coaches the program. 'Next man in' shouldn't be a drop-off." Watkins, who finished the season with eight tackles and the one pass defended in 12 games, said defen- sive coordinator Brian VanGorder, defensive backs coach Todd Lyght and assistant strength and condition- ing coach David Grimes have helped him stay confident. "It is tough, but that's what Coach VanGorder preaches," Watkins said. "Being a young player, as he says, you just have to work through that and focus on being better than you were the day before." While waiting for that moment, Watkins earned the attention of coaches and team leaders alike. "Nick is the kind of guy, he's not going to flinch," 2015 team captain Joe Schmidt said. "I think he com- petes against our receivers every day." "They like him," Kelly added. "I thought he did a nice job [against Ohio State]. He didn't give up any big plays. We just asked him to play top down and keep it in front of you, make the tackles, let the front seven handle what they can handle." Watkins faces a position battle this spring, although he could be consid- ered the frontrunner for the starting role entering his junior season. The Irish have a number of options to complement Luke on the first team, a list that in addition to Watkins in- cludes Butler plus sophomores Nick Coleman and Shaun Crawford. Notre Dame must replace more than half of its defense this offsea- son, with Russell, safety Elijah Shu- mate, linebackers Schmidt and Jay- lon Smith, and defensive linemen Sheldon Day and Romeo Okwara out of eligibility. The Irish will present a new-look defense this spring as far as personnel goes, and they hope the production will improve following a disappointing 2015. Where cornerback is unique, how- ever, is that the position is up for grabs. Most of the other openings have clear replacements, from junior Andrew Trumbetti and sophomore Jerry Tillery on the defensive line to junior Nyles Morgan at linebacker. It is on Watkins' shoulders to prove that he is Notre Dame's best option for facing opponents' No. 2 receivers each week this fall. He answered the call against Ohio State, but now comes an even stiffer challenge this spring of holding off a few of his teammates to earn the starting job. ✦