Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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sus Maryland. However, Cooks noted half- way through spring that Wood needed to get beyond Level 1. "From the standpoint of understanding what we're asking to get done, he's all the way there," Cooks said of Wood. "From the expectation of actually doing it in practice, he's not quite met that level. "Making plays on the ball, you would stops on special teams versus Purdue and finished as Notre Dame's Special Teams Player of the Year for his role as a tackler and kick return man. Because the Irish needed to groom some- expect that now that he's going into year three. He should be competitive for the ball when it's in the air, fundamentally come up and break up the ball, disrupt, make a tackle, and he's inconsistent. Whereas you watch Bennett on the other side and he's pretty consistent — not always great, but he's pretty consistent, and there hasn't been any fallback. That's the difference between the two right now." In the Blue-Gold Game, Wood broke up two passes in the end zone and especially was strong on the edge, finishing with seven tackles. "If the ball gets funneled out to him, we body to succeed Gray and Blanton in 2012, Jackson shifted to corner in the spring of 2011. "I wouldn't say I was aggravated, but a little disappointed," Jackson admitted. "As it went down the road, I actually enjoyed cornerback more than receiver … My fresh- man year on special teams I was always hit- ting. I didn't really play receiver much, so I got a feel for the physical part of the game." Jackson played only 65 snaps at corner last season (five per game), but he believes the one-year apprenticeship paid huge divi- dends this spring. His background as a receiver also has been beneficial. "I have more of a feeling to go for the feel like we've got a really good tackler out there," head coach Brian Kelly said of Wood afterwards. "He's an aggressive kid, and he's not afraid to put his helmet on ball carriers. He doesn't have blazing speed. We don't need him to do that." the now starting boundary corner Jackson was supposed to redshirt that year while adding muscle to his 170-pound frame. However, special teams coordinator and defensive line coach Mike Elston told Kelly that the speedster was too fast and aggres- sive to keep off the field. In the opener, Jackson made four solo A wide receiver as a freshman in 2010, BOUNDARY & DETERMINED ball at the end of routes," Jackson said of his wideout instincts. "I've always got my eyes on the ball and try to make a play at the end." His participation as a sprinter (hurdles) on the Irish track team — along with the Atkinson twins, Josh and George III — fa- cilitated his growth. "Playing cornerback is a lot of catch-up speed, and it's a lot of running," Jackson said. "I just look at it as getting faster as an individual, and I feel it can help get me bet- ter on the field. … It's going to keep me in shape more than I guess it would for other people." Atkinson is the son of former Pro Bowl defensive back George Atkinson Jr., it's evi- AUGUST 2012 42 Cooks said that because sophomore Josh OTHER OPTIONS