Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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I Of Job Titles, Special Play And Expectations THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI 2012 football season: 1. Chuck Martin's title as offensive n a month that is known for Final Fours, here are four primary topics that will help dictate Notre Dame's coordinator is overrated, but his title as quarterbacks coach is underrated. The title "offensive coordinator" of- ten is associated with "play caller." In some cases it is true, in others it is not. Like predecessor Charlie Weis, cur- rent Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly handles the play-calling duties while receiving input from his coor- dinator. Ara Parseghian (1964-74) and Lou Holtz (1986-96) did the same. Weis temporarily relinquished the re- sponsibility in 2008 to Mike Haywood — but took it back by the end of the season. Old habits die hard. However, teaching quarterback fun- damentals and conveying it consis- tently and properly on a day-to-day basis is the type of behind-the-scenes work that doesn't get noticed. We believe this will be the more im- portant part of Martin's job descrip- tion, especially given the uncertainty at the position. How he mentors that unit when most of his experience has been on defense will be telling. tor with new coordinator Scott Booker. Upon taking the job in December 2. Special teams are a crucial X-fac- 2009, Kelly noted that having defen- sive line coach Mike Elston also coor- dinate special teams is "a big load." Thus, he said assistants would aid Elston. While Elston will remain part of special teams, he will be able to con- centrate primarily on his talented and developing young line. Unlike Elston, Booker does not have any previous experience coordinating special teams, but Kelly stresses he won't fly solo. "We have a 10-coach emphasis now yet qualify "championship" defense as one that can't shut the door when your team is leading 14-0 in the sec- ond half while going against four true freshmen offensive linemen. Don't take for granted that because a couple of freshmen, ends Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt, had excel- lent rookie campaigns that every- thing automatically will be elevated as sophomores. There is a reason why "sophomore jinx" has become popular in the American sports lexicon. En route to a surprising Frozen Four Rees (above), are heading in the right direction. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND Offensive coordinator Chuck Martin's biggest responsibility in the coming year isn't to call plays. It's making sure his quarterbacks, like Tommy spell the difference between 7-5 and 8-4 seasons and 10-2 or even better. Back in 2000, the Irish finished only 76th in total offense and a middle-of- the-road 51st in total defense — but they made the BCS by 1) committing an NCAA record-low eight turnovers and 2) having the greatest all-around season at the school in special teams, including several blocked punts/kicks or returns that saved four victories. now Notre Dame's defense is champi- onship level. The Irish front seven will be her- 3. It is premature to believe right alded this season as probably its strength, especially with the return of senior linebacker Manti Te'o. In his time here, the Irish ranking in total defense has improved from 86th to 50th to 30th. However, every time you begin to as it relates to our special teams," Kelly asserted. "We have nine assis- tants and a head coach involved in special teams working through that and shoring up some deficiencies that we had last year. We will do that in the spring." All things being equal on offense and defense, special teams play and turnover margin are usually what 62 APRIL 2012 think Notre Dame's defense has "ar- rived," remember that when the Irish faced top-10 rated teams last year, USC totaled 443 yards and 31 points, Stanford 429 yards and 28 points, and Michigan's Denard Robinson ac- counted for 446 yards by himself (338 passing and 108 rushing) in a 35-31 Wolverine victory. After the 18-14 loss to Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl, Kelly said, "It's great to be able to talk about a Notre Dame football team that plays championship defense because they did that today." With all due respect, we can't quite last spring, Notre Dame's hockey pro- gram had nine freshmen playing ma- jor roles, including its top two scorers TJ Tynan and Anders Lee. It was a main reason why the Irish were pro- jected as a preseason No. 1 this season. Instead, the Irish didn't even make the NCAA Tournament. "It's because guys think, 'This wasn't that hard,' " head coach Jeff Jackson said. "They think it's going to be easy, and it's not. It gets even harder … When there are expectations to do more, and when it's not happen- ing, the frustration sets in and confi- dence gets hit." Which brings us to … much a burden this season — or will they? Every year it seems not much is ex- 4. Expectations shouldn't be as pected of Mike Brey's basketball team, and almost every year it overachieves, which is why Brey repeatedly wins Coach of the Year notice. This Irish football team is supposed to be "a year away," but the problem is it seldom does more than projected on the field. When you expect 10-2, it's 8-4, when you project 8-4 its 6-6, when you realistically predict 6-6 it's 3-9 … it always seems less. This program desperately needs a "Where did that come from?" season on the plus side. The opportunity is there this season. However, expectations of the Notre Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Dame football head coach never drop, especially in the third year. ✦