Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 97 LINEBACKERS POSITION COACH Clark Lea is in his first season as Notre Dame's defensive coordinator and his sec- ond as linebackers coach. The Irish linebackers took their play to a new level during Lea's first year in South Bend. For the first time in school history, four players in that position group — Te'von Coney (116), Nyles Morgan (92), Drue Tranquill (85) and Greer Martini (75) — racked up at least 75 tackles in a season while ranking as the top four tacklers on the team. The quartet accounted for 37.8 percent of the team's total tackles (368 of 972). In 2016, Lea served as the linebackers coach at Wake Forest under defensive coordinator Mike Elko, before following him to South Bend. In his lone year at Winston-Salem, N.C., he helped the Demon Deacons rank among the top 20 of the Football Bowl Subdivision in fumbles recovered (third, 15), turnovers forced (tied for 10th, 27), sacks (11th, 3.15 per game) and defensive touchdowns (tied for 19th, three). Wake also allowed only 22.2 points (23rd nationally) and 370.5 yards per game (40th). Before joining Elko at Wake Forest, Lea spent three seasons as the linebackers coach at Syracuse (2013-15). The 2014 Orange defense held nine of its 12 opponents to less than their season average for total offense and yielded only nine rushing touch- downs — making it one of four schools nationally to surrender fewer than 10. In 2013, Syracuse ranked nationally in multiple categories, including third- down defense (15th), rush defense (24th), sacks (18th) and tackles for loss (18th). In his first season working with Elko at Bowling Green in 2012, Lea was a finalist for FootballScoop. com's Linebackers Coach of the Year honor. The Falcons ranked sixth in the country in total defense (296.6 yards allowed per contest) and 10th in scor- ing defense (16.7 points allowed per game). They also finished 11th in sacks (38), 12th in rushing de- fense (106.5 yards given up each contest) and 13th in pass defense (190.1 yards surrendered per game). Lea also coached at UCLA for four years, serving as a graduate assistant in 2006 and 2009 before becoming the linebackers coach in 2010 and 2011. While with the Bruins, he helped Akeem Ayers gar- ner All-America accolades in 2010 en route to be- coming a second-round pick in the NFL Draft. He also coached at South Dakota State for two seasons (2007-08), where he was the linebackers mentor while also serving as the recruiting coordina- tor for one year. In 2001, Lea was a member of the Birmingham- Southern College baseball team that captured the NAIA World Series title. The following year, he played baseball at Belmont. Finally, he played fullback at Vanderbilt from 2002-04 and was a two-time All-SEC Academic Team selection. The political science major earned his bachelor's in 2004 and his master's in 2007, with both degrees coming from Vanderbilt. RETURNING PLAYERS ASMAR BILAL • ROVER Sr. • Indianapolis Ht.: 6-2 • Wt.: 225 Career Highlights: Saw action in all 13 contests last season … Contributed 18 tackles and 1.5 stops for loss … Played in 12 games in 2016 … Registered 29 stops, three tackles for loss and one sack … Redshirted in 2015 and was recognized as the program's Defensive Scout Team Player of the Year. Prep: Rated as a four-star re- cruit, the No. 2 player in Indiana, and the No. 8 outside linebacker and No. 87 overall prospect nationally by Scout … As a senior, racked up 155 tackles (104 solo), six stops for loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one in- terception to help Ben Davis High (12-2) win the 6A state championship … Listed as a second-team All- American by MaxPreps … Honorable mention pick on the 2015 Parade All-America team … Selected to the USA Today All-USA Indiana first team and chosen as the state's Defensive Player of the Year … Named The Indianapolis Star's Mr. Football award winner at linebacker in 2014 … Named all-state by the Associated Press as a senior and was an honor- able mention pick as a junior … Saw action in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Personal: Born April 12, 1997 … Enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters, majoring in sociology. Year G-GS Solo Asst. Total TFL Sacks 2016 12-0 12 17 29 3.0 1.0 2017 13-0 12 6 18 1.5 0.0 Totals 25-0 24 23 47 4.5 1.0 TE'VON CONEY • MIKE Sr. • Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Ht.: 6-1 • Wt.: 238 Career Highlights: Played in all 13 games and made seven starts in 2017 … Set career highs and led the team in both tackles (116) and tackles for loss (13) … Also notched a career-best three sacks, plus tallied one forced fumble and one fumble recovery … Saw action in all 12 contests and made nine starts in 2016 … Notched 62 stops, including 1.5 behind the line of scrimmage … Played in 12 games on special teams and as a reserve linebacker in 2015 after en- rolling in January … Registered six tackles on special teams and finished the season with 13 total stops. Prep: Ranked as a four-star talent, the No. 20 prospect in Florida, and the No. 6 inside linebacker and No. 118 player in the land by Rivals … To- taled 136 tackles, 12 sacks, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions during his senior season … Logged 172 tackles, 14 sacks, six forced fumbles and two interceptions as a junior … Named to the Associated Press Class 8A second-team all-state defense his last two years in high school … Started in the Under Armour All-American Game despite being a late addition. Personal: Born June 10, 1997 … Enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters, majoring in philosophy and minoring in business economics. Year G-GS Solo Asst. Total TFL Sacks 2015 12-0 6 7 13 0.5 1.0 2016 12-9 33 29 62 1.5 0.0 2017 13-7 57 59 116 13.0 3.0 Totals 37-16 96 95 191 15.0 4.0 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 97 ln his first season as Notre Dame's linebackers coach, newly promoted defensive coordinator Clark Lea directed a unit that produced the top four tacklers on the team. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN