Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 71 OFFENSIVE LINEMEN Sophomore Robert Hainsey re- mained at right tackle at the end of spring following some experi- mentation on the left side. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL 2017 VS. 2018: STOCK UP OR DOWN? Expecting the 2018 line to repeat what we saw from the 2017 line is unrealistic. Notre Dame's 2017 group helped set a program record with 6.25 yards per carry and won the Joe Moore Award, which goes to the nation's top unit. Left guard Quen- ton Nelson was named a unanimous All-American and left tackle Mike McGlinchey was a consensus All-American, and both were top-10 picks in the 2018 NFL Draft. That occurs maybe once per generation pretty much anywhere in college football. That doesn't mean the Fighting Irish can't still field one of the better lines in the country in 2018. Notre Dame returns 65 career starts this season, and fifth-year se- niors Alex Bars (Street & Smith's) and Sam Mustipher (Lindy's Sports) were chosen as preseason All-Americans. X-FACTOR For Bars, Mustipher, junior right guard Tommy Kraemer and sophomore right tackle Robert Hainsey, it is about building on past success. There is a level of expecta- tion for the two veterans and the second-year starters, but we don't know what to expect from junior left tackle Liam Eichenberg. Every left tackle to start for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame has gone on to be a first- round pick in the NFL Draft, so expec- tations for Eichenberg are immense. He is a long and athletic edge player, but he lacks experience, having played just 45 snaps last season. Eichenberg was rated as a top-100 recruit by ESPN and 247Sports, and Blue & Gold Illustrated football ana- lyst Bryan Driskell ranked him as Notre Dame's top prospect in the 2016 class. If Notre Dame is going to once again put one of the best lines in the country on the field, it will need Eichenberg to live up to his promise. FRESHMAN OUTLOOK Notre Dame signed a four-man class in 2018, but none is projected to play as a freshman because of the return of nine scholarship blockers. Freshman center/guard Luke Jones is an ad- vanced technician and a favorite of offensive coordinator Chip Long, so if a freshman is needed to play it would not be a surprise if Jones gets the first look. DID YOU KNOW? While the word "new" is associated with first-year Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn, there is nobody in college football who has had a longer association with head coach Brian Kelly. The two began working together at Grand Valley State in 1989, when Kelly was the Lakers' de- fensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator while Quinn was the offensive coordinator and line coach. Kelly was promoted to head coach in 1991, continuing a 21-year working relationship between the two from 1989-2009: Grand Valley State (1989-2003), Central Michigan (2004-06) and Cincinnati (2007-09), before Kelly was hired as the head coach at Notre Dame and Quinn at the University at Buffalo. Although Quinn led the Bulls to a bowl game in 2013, he was fired early during the 2014 campaign and hired that winter by Kelly as an offensive analyst at Notre Dame before his promotion to succeed Harry Hiestand this January. SCHOLARSHIP PLAYERS (13) Listed after the class year is the years of eligi- bility remaining. Left Tackle 74 Liam Eichenberg (6-6, 303), Jr./3 75 Joshua Lugg (6-7, 308), So./4 60 Cole Mabry (6-5, 275), Fr./4 Left Guard 71 Alex Bars (6-6, 318), 5th/1 56 John Dirksen (6-5, 303), Fr./4 Center 53 Sam Mustipher (6-2½, 304), 5th/1 57 Trevor Ruhland (6-4, 295), Sr./2 73 Luke Jones (6-5, 289), Fr./4 Right Guard 78 Tommy Kraemer (6-6, 315), Jr./3 76 Dillan Gibbons (6-4, 307), So./4 Right Tackle 72 Robert Hainsey (6-4½, 291), So./3 69 Aaron Banks (6-6, 320), So./4 68 Jarrett Patterson (6-4, 280), Fr./4 NOTABLE DATA In the 10 most recent football seasons (2008-17), 35 offensive line recruits have en- rolled at Notre Dame and 32 were redshirted as freshmen (91.4 percent). Among them were first-round selections Zack Martin (2009), Ron- nie Stanley (2012), Mike McGlinchey (2013) and Quenton Nelson (2014). The three exceptions to the rule were guards Trevor Robinson in 2008 and Steve El- mer in 2013, and last year right tackle R o b e r t H a i n s e y — a co-starter with s o p h o m o re To m my Kraemer, who likewise was redshirted in 2016. Perhaps not coincidentally, Robinson, Elmer and Hainsey all enrolled early in January, providing them some good groundwork and background. S o p h o m o re A a ro n Banks is the only other of- fensive lineman to enroll early at Notre Dame since that practice began in 2006. This year, none of the four offen- sive line recruits enrolled early, mean- ing that preserving a fifth season of eligibility is more likely for them.