Brian Kelly Talks Mike Mickens, Impact On Young Notre Dame Cornerbacks

One of the big moves of the 2020 offseason was Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly hiring former Cincinnati cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens to replace Todd Lyght, who stepped away from coaching following the 2019 season.

Mickens made his presence felt immediately, hitting the ground running as a recruiter. The first-year position coach landed commitments from a trio of talented cornerbacks despite being on the job for just six months.

But now he gets to prove himself as a position coach, and so far he has impressed his new coach.

"I really like Mike, I like the way he teaches," Kelly said of Mickens. "He’s got a great style that’s unique in a sense that he’s a really good communicator in terms of what he wants from you, every snap.

"When I mean every snap, I don’t mean every scrimmage snap, I mean every rep, every single practice rep there is some form of communication of what he wants from you," continued Kelly. "There’s a lot of dialogue, there’s a lot of teaching, but we’re moving as well … we are getting a lot of intensity through repetition, but there’s communication always. I really like that about Mike. He’s made great progress with a bunch of young players."

Kelly noted that sixth-year senior Shaun Crawford has been forced to play a lot of safety due to that position being depleted. That has forced a lot of younger players into position to compete for time, which is why Mickens being able to relate to younger players is so important.

Remember, in 2014 he coached true freshman cornerback Nick Johnson to All-Mid American Conference honors, and in 2019 his freshman pupil Ahmad Gardner earned first-team All-American Athletic Conference and Freshman All-American honors.

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