Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2017 29 in games decided by a touchdown or less. Becoming a program that thrives on special teams could have a significant impact on Notre Dame's outcome in such games. It is on Kelly to make this happen. 6. A HOME-RUN HIRE IS NEEDED AT DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR By the time we went to print, Notre Dame had yet to hire a defensive co- ordinator. A number of names have been floated — especially Wake For- est's Mike Elko — but no decision has been made. What Kelly does with this hire is as important as anything else he does. If he makes all the changes discussed above but does not hire a defensive coordinator that fits into that philoso- phy, it will neutralize the effective- ness of those modifications. Notre Dame's defense needs to be the backbone of those changes. If a coach wants to have a physical foot- ball team that takes the fight to op- ponents each week, it must start with the defense, which means Kelly needs to hire a coach with a proven track record of building that kind of attack. Recent defensive struggles have re- volved around a system that was far too complex for Notre Dame's play- ers to handle. The new coordinator must have a system that is complex enough to give offenses problems — but learnable enough for the Irish players to quickly grasp and apply it. Notre Dame's defense has played with poor fundamentals ever since former coordinator Bob Diaco left to become the head coach at Connecticut following the 2013 season. Kelly's new hire must have a proven track record as a teacher and whose defense is built around his players being taught how to play the game, first and foremost. Finally, Notre Dame must become a more aggressive defensive football team; one that dictates the tempo to the opposition, not one that is at the mercy of the offense, which is what we saw the last three seasons. Kelly returns a roster capable of winning a lot of games next season, but he must push the right buttons this offseason to make that happen. Making the right defensive coordina- tor hire would serve as the first ma- jor step towards getting his program heading in the right direction. It will also tell us if Kelly is serious about making the changes his pro- gram needs. ✦ Building around running back Josh Adams and the Irish ground game is a must for Notre Dame next season. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA