IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS
N
o t r e D a m e
carried only
four healthy
scholarship line-
backers through
spring practice, so
it was difficult to
get a true feel for
how the unit will
fully shake out
when the season
begins at Texas. Yet
linebackers coach
Mike Elston feels
good about where
it is headed.
"If we had every-
body healthy right
now, we would be
[feeling] very, very
good," Elston said.
"Assuming [soph-
omore] Te'von [Co-
ney] and [junior]
Greer [Martini] come back healthy
at the level that they were and they
can move their game forward during
summer and fall camp, we're going to
have a very solid linebacking corps."
The Irish lost two of three line-
backer starters this offseason, with
Mike linebacker Joe Schmidt having
graduated and Will linebacker Jaylon
Smith off to the NFL with a future
made murky by a torn ACL and LCL
suffered in the Fiesta Bowl.
"When you say Jaylon, the first
thing that comes to my mind is pro-
duction," Elston said. "Someone's
got to replace the production. Jay-
lon wasn't a verbal leader per se. Joe
was that guy. Jaylon was a produc-
tion man. He made everybody else
around him better because he was
going to make up for you.
"You got reached as a defensive
tackle, what's he going to do? He's
going to get to the ball and make the
Replacing Jaylon Smith
And Joe Schmidt
Talented junior Nyles Morgan is in line to start at Mike linebacker, but it
will take a group effort to fill the void created by the departures of Smith
and Schmidt.
PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND
