Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2017 85 Brian Polian was hired to cure 2016 special teams woes BY LOU SOMOGYI S pecial teams don't necessarily have to win games in football. For newly hired special teams coordinator Brian Polian — who held the same job title at Notre Dame under head coach Charlie Weis from 2005-09 — the first objective is not to lose them. "I kind of approach the kicking game like the Hippo- cratic oath for doctors," Polian said. "My first job is, 'Do no harm.' My first concern is the elimination of big plays against us. "Championship football teams cover kicks. Champion- ship football teams don't get kicks blocked. … Our first job is to do no harm, eliminate the big play." That would be a needed cure after Notre Dame yielded a likely school-record five special teams touchdowns in 2016. One of them was a game-changer in a 38-35 loss to Duke, and the lone touchdown in the 10-3 loss at North Carolina State was tallied on a blocked punt by the Wolfpack in the fourth quarter. Never mind USC scoring twice on special teams versus the Irish in the season finale. The special teams nucleus begins with junior kicker Justin Yoon and senior punter Tyler Newsome, two-year starters who have already faced their share of pressure situ- ations, and winning many of them, including Yoon convert- ing 28 of 34 field goal attempts (82.4 percent). An esteemed ace recruiter, Polian secured former Mary- land commit Jonathan Doerer specifically to handle kick- offs, if not challenge Yoon. "We need to develop more consistency kicking the ball off," Polian said after watching some tape from last season. "We can't have one ball go seven yards deep [into the end zone] and the other one get caught at the 8." There will be a new long snapper in sophomore John Shannon, the heir to four-year starter Scott Daly. "The last time [I] had a new long snapper was J.J. Jansen, and his first game was against USC as a walk-on snap- per and punting to Reggie Bush," Polian recalled with a chuckle, adding that Jansen is still in the NFL (with the Carolina Panthers). The return game is headlined by junior C.J. Sanders, whose four touchdowns in that area (three on kickoffs) are two short of the school record. "It's been a little while since I've been able to coach a guy that had that kind of juice and that kind of wiggle," Polian said of Sanders. With Tom Zbikowski, Polian emphasized the return game, and "Zibby" scored three times on punt returns. Later, with top kick blockers or cover men like Sergio Brown, David Bruton, Kyle McCarthy and Mike Anello, Po- lian shifted the game plan, and it included a No. 1 national finish in kick coverage in 2008. "I've got to figure out what we have and who the play- makers are — and then find a way to put the playmakers in position to have an effect on the game," Polian said of spring practice, which begins March 8. "Some of the older players need to understand that when you look at Ala- bama, Clemson and some of the elite teams in the country, they have starters covering kicks. "I want to establish a culture where everybody knows every guy can be thrown out there to play on special teams. The other part of it is I want to help some of these players to understand that if you dream of playing beyond college, you have to do that. "We spoke at length about being smart with our use of personnel, but also recognizing that specifically on cover- age units there may be times that we have to have front-line defensive and offensive players out there. There's always a place for the role player." At least one Irish freshman from last season impressed Polian significantly while making 11 tackles. "[Sophomore wide receiver] Chase Claypool is a heck of a special teams player," Polian said. "Watching him run down, I got really excited. "There are going to be guys like that every year, but when you face the USCs of the world and some of the elite people in the country, you've got to have front-line people out there on the coverage units, and I know Coach Kelly understands that. It's my job to balance the desire to have our best guys out there and also be smart in making sure we're doing the best job we can with the people that we have." Let the healing process begin. ✦ Polian's job this spring includes identifying what facet of special teams Notre Dame can excel at best. PHOTO COURTESY JOE RAYMOND THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR BRIAN POLIAN