Notre Dame Notebook: Lorenzo Styles Positional Future, Jack Kiser, Young Linebackers

Notre Dame’s spring football practice slate is in the home stretch. The Fighting Irish have just three more practices this week before this Saturday’s Blue-Gold Game, which will conclude the spring. Head coach Marcus Freeman put his team through a live scrimmage on Saturday inside Notre Dame Stadium and then fielded questions on several topics afterwards.

One of the most intriguing is the recent cross-training of Lorenzo Styles at cornerback. The wide receiver worked at corner during one of the individual position periods on Wednesday when the media was present for practice. He also took a live rep at cornerback against freshman receiver Braylon James.

"(We are) kind of experimenting a little bit with him,” Freeman explained. "I think he has a lot of athletic abilities that can really help us on both sides of the ball. The problem is he hasn't spent much time in the defensive film room with the defensive coaches. So, we said in 1-on-1s, every once a while, go get a rep of DB.

"The one rep he got the other day was a really good rep, and I told him, ‘The road to where you want to go is bumpy on either side of the ball, right? It isn't always going to be that easy'," continued Freeman. "But we're kind of experimenting with him on both sides. He'll probably get a little bit more DB work next week. Then I foresee him in the spring game probably playing a little bit on both sides. Today was all at receiver.”

Styles has 54 career catches for 684 yards, which is the most of any Notre Dame returner in 2023, but he struggled to find consistency a season. Drops and inconsistency plagued Styles throughout the 2022. campaign, but that's not what led to the idea of him playing defense, that was more about what he could bring to the defense. The idea to give cornerback a shot this spring started with Freeman.

"Coming from my background, I told him, I see a lot of traits that he possesses that really could resonate on the defensive side of the ball,” Freeman noted. "But I wanted it to be his decision. I want him to feel good about what position he’s playing. So, I said, 'Hey, if you want to experiment, play a little bit of DB in 1-on-1s. Play man.’ Now he did it in high school, and I know a lot of people from where he's from — in Columbus, Ohio — and they said he was a dang good DB in high school. So, I've always just put that carrot in his ear. But it was him ultimately that said, "Okay, I want to try it. I want to try it, Coach. I know you said it.’ We'll see after next week what we decide to do.”

The Wide Receiver Room

Styles is still a wide receiver, but the position group lost a veteran presence when Virginia Tech graduate transfer Kaleb Smith announced his retirement from football before Saturday’s scrimmage.

The room still includes Thomas, Deion Colzie, Tobias Merriweather, Matt Salerno, running back turned receiver Chris Tyree, early enrollees James, Rico Flores Jr and Jaden Greathouse, and another Kaleb Smith, who will arrive on campus for summer workouts.

Freeman discussed the development of that unit through the spring.

"Just development,” Freeman said of what he has seen from the group this spring. "Precision. It is exact details, and what happens when you're precise and you’re exact in your alignments and the route running.

"Now there's a trust built between a quarterback and the wideouts," continued the Irish head coach. "Right now you see, a lot of times, our quarterbacks — we've gotten tremendously better over 11 practices — at times our quarterbacks are waiting for them to get open before they throw it instead of trusting and knowing exactly where that wideout’s going to be. So, they have to continue to develop.

“They've developed a tremendous amount,” Freeman continued. "Coach (Chansi) Stuckey’s done a great job with that room. Those three freshmen are all practicing at a much higher level than when they came in. As you see this progression getting to August, just continue to improve. How do you improve — not just your skill set but the exact details of the position? Then that trust is built between the wideouts and the quarterback.”

Jack Kiser On The Inside

Fifth-year senior Jack Kiser is the presumed No. 1 Rover on the depth chart, but he has also worked inside a lot this spring while the Irish develop their pressure packages and the nickel and dime defenses. Freeman discussed how Kiser being versatile can influence the rest of the depth chart.

"I think the more he can do, it gives others opportunities,” Freeman said of Kiser’s inside work. "If Jack Kiser's a one-position guy, we know Jack Kiser’s going to be on the field. If he's one-position guy, well, the guy behind him — it might be a younger guy — isn't going to get an opportunity to get on the field as much. But now if you’ve got a guy like Jack that can play multiple positions, you could give those inside guys a break and get a younger guy or inexperienced guy on the field at that rover position. So, again, the guys on the field have to do their job, but a guy that can do multiple positions creates an opening for another guy.”

On The Young Linebackers

Freeman also discussed how less experienced, but talented, linebackers like Jaylen Sneed and Nolan Ziegler, and the freshmen fit into the bigger picture.

"That’s the beauty and sometimes the difficulties of a team sport is that you have really good players all in one room,” Freeman explained. “Only one, two, at certain positions three can get on the field at a time. You have to build that trust and that unselfishness in that room while also developing their skill set. It’s a really challenging thing to do as a position coach, which I’ve been in that position. Where, okay, we have a lot of talented guys in this room, I need everybody to get better, and everybody wants to play.

"But how can we make sure we have a culture of respect and love for each other," Freeman continued. "No matter who’s on the field where it’s what’s best for Notre Dame and what’s best for the team. That’s a constant message that’s preached every day, because this isn’t an individual sport. I only say this is an individual sport when you have failures. I want it to be an individual sport when we have failures. Everybody looks at themselves. But it is the ultimate team sport, so that, to me, is a message that has to be driven every day. I want you to get better as an individual. In order to get better as an individual, you’re going to have to practice. You’re going to have to study. You’re going to have to do things to develop that skill. But at the end of the day, whoever’s on that field represents this room and this program. Ultimately that’s all that matters.”

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