Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 MARCH 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY LOU SOMOGYI W hen assessing which single position group at Notre Dame in 2018 might have the most competition or be in the greatest state of flux, quar- terback, running back and wide re- ceiver would be apt replies. In reality, the answer could be safety, even though the position re- turns both 2017 starters in current junior Nick Coleman at Stud and sophomore Jalen Elliott at Whip. However, safety production will need to improve appreciably in 2018. During the 2017 football season, the Fighting Irish safeties accounted for a miniscule five passes broken up and zero interceptions — the latter a first at Notre Dame since head coach Ara Parseghian's first season in 1964 when college football went to a two- platoon system. In fairness to Coleman and Elliott, both were first-time safety starters who in high school were more re- nowned athletes at running back and quarterback, respectively, before making the full-time transition to the defensive backfield (Coleman played cornerback in 2016). Both were adept in assignment soundness and keeping the ball in front of them for the most part. The issue was more about their ball- hawking skills, or making far more plays on the ball. Navy sophomore transfer Alohi Gilman "would have started" in 2017, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said in December, because of Gilman's combination of cover skills and tackling acumen. He was named Notre Dame's Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year after getting denied a waiver by the NCAA to play in 2017 following his transfer from Navy, where he starred as a freshman, including a team-high 12 tackles in a 28-27 win versus Notre Dame. "We know what we're going to get from him from what we've seen," Kelly said of Gilman during the Cit- rus Bowl preparation for LSU. Further adding to the competition at the two safety spots — which ide- ally are interchangeable in the de- fensive scheme introduced by Mike Elko in 2017 and now carried on by his successor Clark Lea — are several other candidates: • Sophomore Devin Studstill started nine games at safety as a freshman in 2016, but was sup- planted in the lineup in 2017 by classmate Elliott, who — per the now-departed Elko — possessed the highest ceiling at the position. • Freshman Isaiah Robertson en- rolled early in January 2017 and earned a monogram while starting on a couple of special teams units. • Another freshman, Jordan Gen- mark Heath, started on three of the four special teams. By the end of the season, he had progressed so well that he played 32 snaps on defense in the Citrus Bowl victory while re- cording five tackles (three solo) to tie Elliott for most among the safeties. Genmark Heath had played only 39 defensive snaps during the 12- game regular season prior to his rapid ascent to the lineup in Decem- ber. Like Gilman, he is a bona fide contender for a starting role at one of the two safety slots in 2018. SAFETY IN NUMBERS In 2018, Coleman will be the lone safety among the six mentioned who does not have at least two more years of eligibility remaining. The numbers at the position were bolstered even further this past De- cember with the signing of three more safety candidates in Georgia's Houston Griffith was ranked as the nation's No. 43 overall prospect and No. 4 safety in the 2018 class. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM SAFETY ALERT Notre Dame's three-man haul at safety should enhance the position in the years to come