Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2017 55 emergence of junior Nick Coleman, who moved to safety in the spring following two years at cornerback. Coleman made two starts on the out- side last season and he saw a lot of action as a true freshman in 2015, but he often struggled in coverage. Now on the back end, Coleman has shown a greater comfort level. "The game from the inside is dif- ferent," Elko noted. "Each rep he gets helps him get better at that. He's been a lot better this fall than spring because of that. "The biggest thing for Nick is he is a plus-cover guy at safety. He moves from the outside to the inside where he is a very good coverage safety. His development since I've gotten here has been in understanding run fits and how to play the game. It has given him a comfort level because when he moves to the inside and plays that position, he's a really good cover guy. That helps him relax and play ball." At cornerback, the change in de- fensive philosophy that came with Elko has proven extremely beneficial. His scheme is far from simple, but the emphasis each day of practice has been about establishing a founda- tion of strong technique. Elko wants his players knowing how to play the technical part of the game more than the scheme part. "You have to have a strong foun- dation," Lyght said. "In order to be a great football team you have to be fundamentally sound and technically proficient. "The schemes are great, but if you don't know how to execute you have no shot, it doesn't matter how good your schemes are." Lyght has been a part of elite foot- ball teams as a player. He was a start- ing cornerback when Notre Dame won its most recent national title in 1988, and he started for the St. Louis Rams team that won Super Bowl XXXIV. "Even when I was with the St. Louis Rams and we were the best team on the planet, it was all about fundamentals and it was all about technique," Lyght explained. "When it comes to winning, the proper way to tackle, the proper way to block, the proper way to defend a pass, that's what's going to win you the game when it's crunch time." The emphasis on fundamentals doesn't mean the Fighting Irish coaches are backing off from a scheme standpoint. It doesn't take long to watch the Elko system and re- alize he asks a lot of his players when it comes to variation of coverage and responsibilities. "Coach Elko's scheme is great, I think that we're very multiple in what we do," Lyght said. "But it's simple enough for the players to un- derstand the scheme." Playing a more technically sound game has done wonders for the Notre Dame cornerbacks between the ears. The more confident they become in their technique, the more confident they become in their ability to execute. "When you're thinking, sometimes you get paralyzed as a player, you don't play as fast because in your mind you're thinking about sche- matics and tactical things instead of just execution," Lyght explained. "… All great defenses play fast, they're smart, they're tough, they know what they want to do, they know where their help is, they know how to play to it and they play fast. "That's where we're trying to get defensively here at the University of Notre Dame." Ironically, Notre Dame's least ex- perienced cornerback from a starts standpoint has been its best so far in fall camp — Watkins. Lyght believes Watkins is on the verge of starring, not just for Notre Dame, but nationally. "For him, it's just going to be how technically sound he can be play in and play out," Lyght said. "When he masters his technique he's just as good as anybody in the country. When he gets away from his tech- nique, he struggles." Lyght has only five scholarship cornerbacks, but each one has started at least one game and all five will be counted on at some point this season. In the past, cornerback was con- sidered a position where one player needed to get all the reps, much like quarterback or middle linebacker. However, recent trends in college offensive football are spread looks and an up-tempo style of play. With greater tempo comes more plays. In 2006, no team had more than 965 offensive plays on the season and only eight teams took more than 900 snaps. In 2016, Clemson led the nation with 1,220 offensive plays. Fourteen teams took at least 1,000 snaps on the season and 70 took at least 900 snaps. The change in offense is requiring a change in how teams use their cor- nerbacks. Notre Dame's depth at the position puts it in position to handle the heavier workload, although the specifics of any rotation have yet to be determined. "You have to play all of them now with the tempo offense and teams trying to get up to 80 to 90 plays a game," Lyght stated. "Over a 12- game season, you can't play two cor- ners for 80 plays in every game. "So how do you do that? Does one guy plays 50 plays, one guy plays 30 plays, or is it 60-20? But we're going to have to play every- body to be successful." ✦ A move to safety has put junior Nick Coleman in position to be a key player on the Irish defense. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA