Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2017 37 "It's been preached and hit on us from Mr. Swarbrick to Coach Kelly to the rest of the coaches and the cap- tains. … There's a lot more hunger on the team. Guys want to do the right thing both on and off the field." The accountability factor was man- ifested perhaps most in enigmatic sophomore wideout Kevin Stepher- son, who last year caught the third most passes (25) on the team for a stellar 18.5 yards per reception, and the second-most touchdowns (five). Although suited up and practicing throughout last spring and this Au- gust, Stepherson was virtually never even on the top three units among the 12 scholarship wideouts, and wasn't inserted during the Aug. 20 scrimmage. All Kelly would offer on that situ- ation is he erred last year by letting too much slide based on talent and not "the process" of adhering to team standards within. In the long run, placing individuals above ac- countability within erodes the team concept. • No quarterback drama or pre- season hype. One of the reasons why Notre Dame started No. 10 in the Associ- ated Press poll last year was it was deemed to have the nation's best one-two punch at quarterback with DeShone Kizer (now a potential starter for the Cleveland Browns) and Malik Zaire (now at the Univer- sity of Florida). Kelly opted not to name a starter in the preseason and let it play out. Suffice to say that both quarter- backs saw their effectiveness dimin- ish on a rebuilding offense. There is no such debate this year, and the combination of junior Bran- don Wimbush's overall skill set and veterans all around him on offense could allow the unit to thrive the way it did with Kizer during a 10-1 start in 2015 and with sophomore Everett Golson in the 12-0 regular season in 2012, even though nei- ther had previously seen action in college. This marks the first time since 2012 the Irish enter a season un- ranked. That brought out the pride and hunger of a team that had pre- viously underachieved for far too long. The result might not be similar in 2017, and Kelly knows that at all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, optimism is always at an all-time high in the preseason. There is also no such thing on any college football team where it is a fin- ished product coming out of training camp, but Kelly believes that in the first three weeks this August at least some identity continued to be carved and reinforced. "I think we're going to be a team that runs the football, can play fast and can push the ball vertically … we have great versatility offensively," he said. "Defensively, we're going to play so much better up front, and that really makes you feel pretty good. We'll be better against the run, better fundamentally across the board, and our kicking game is going to be better. "When you put all those things together, I think we're going to con- tinue to get better each and every week — and we'll see if that's good enough." After 2016, it can only get better. How much better will play out in the next three months. ✦ News And Notes From Fall Camp Following the end of training camp Aug. 20 and with the fall semester classes commencing Aug. 22, head coach Brian Kelly made several personnel announcements. • Special teams coordinator Brian Polian has been named the recruiting coordinator, a title held the last two years by defensive line coach Mike Elston, who has been promoted to assistant head coach. In his first stint at Notre Dame from 2005-09 under head coach Charlie Weis, Polian earned a reputa- tion as one of the most indefatigable and productive recruiters in the country, highlighted by landing National Defensive Player of the Year Manti Te'o from Hawai'i. That stature continued for Polian with stints at Stanford under Jim Harbaugh and Kevin Sumlin at Texas A&M before getting named the head coach at Nevada in 2013. His work also helped Notre Dame recover from a recruiting class that had fallen to 14 commits with little promise last December to a top-15 ranking nationally despite coming off a 4-8 record. • Elston is the lone holdover from Kelly's origi- nal staff hired at Notre Dame in 2010. He has been with the Irish head coach 14 consecutive years, beginning with Central Michigan University in 2004. During that time, he has coached special teams, tight ends, linebackers and the defensive line, in addition to holding the recruiting coordi- nator title at both Cincinnati and Notre Dame. "He will assist me day to day in all facets of the program," Kelly said of Elston. "In my ab- sence, he would speak in my behalf. Mike will work with Brian in the transition [as recruiting coordinator]." • Junior running back Josh Adams was added to the captain's list. The Irish already had a school-record six cap- tains this season with senior linebackers Nyles Morgan, Greer Martini and Drue Tranquill, plus fellow seniors Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson along the offensive line and former walk- on and senior receiver Austin Webster, who was awarded a scholarship earlier this month. Since January, new strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis has singled out Adams as a mainstay not only in work ethic and production, but also in the way he encourages others to maxi- mize their skills and attitude. "He has been outstanding in our summer work- outs and distinguished himself with all the traits we're looking for," Kelly said. — Lou Somogyi Special teams coordinator Brian Polian will now oversee Irish recruiting as well. He is taking over for Mike Elston, who was promoted to assistant head coach. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND