Hope springs amid change at Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, IND. >> This year of sweeping change for Notre Dame passed another mile marker Saturday with the Blue and Gold spring game.
The 20,000 or so fans that took in the 2-hour intra-squad scrimmage at Notre Dame Stadium on a bright day got a glimpse of a promising first-year starting quarterback and a taste of the schemes being implemented by new coordinators on both sides of the ball.
The most meaningful ways the Fighting Irish are being transformed after a 4-8 season — the worst in seven years under coach Brian Kelly — have been happening behind the scenes. Notre Dame’s biggest issue in 2016, according to Kelly and his players, was an inability to respond to adversity. The Irish too often crumbled when things got tough.
That’s what Kelly was trying to fix with a massive staff overhaul last winter. Understandably, the culture change is still a work in progress that will continue through the summer.
“There really isn’t a next stage as much as we’ll get back into our training,” Kelly said after the Gold beat the Blue 27-14. “The physical training will continue, but through that physical training obviously fatigue, stress, grit, how we handle all those things through our training is going to be building the kind of football players that we want. That can handle what goes on in the fourth quarter. That can finish strong. And that’ll be the next part of our total preparation for our team.”
Kelly hired six new assistants in the offseason, including strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis. Chip Long now runs the offense and calls the plays. Mike Elko is in charge of the defense and Brian Polian was brought in to be special teams coordinator.
The 55-year-old Kelly is taking a more holistic approach. His players wanted him to be more of a presence, create more structure and challenge them more.
“Our five traits of excellence are attention to detail, attitude, grit, smart and laser focus,” Notre Dame senior defensive back Drue Tranquill said this week. “I think they do a good job of forming whether it’s workouts, practice schedule that helps us develop those habits. I don’t think they’re habits yet. I think spring has been a great opportunity to develop and try to turn those into habits. But I think it’s a consistent process to try to develop daily, day in and day out, those traits.”
Kelly said the spring game was about taking the teaching into a competitive environment. Results don’t mean much, but the change on the field is real, too.