Chansi Stuckey Is Focused On Details And Preparing Notre Dame's Receivers For Tough Spots
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - There is a different vibe inside Notre Dame’s wide receiver room this season. There is also a new face at the helm, with Chansi Stuckey entering his first season coaching Fighting Irish receivers.
Stuckey doesn’t have to go out of his way to make anyone believe he knows what he’s talking about, because spending just five minutes with the 38-year-old former Clemson receiver is proof enough.
Stuckey spent his college career learning from then Tigers wide receiver coach Dabo Swinney, a noted stickler for details. Those details have become part of Stuckey’s own coaching DNA, a decade and a half later.
“Football is one of the only games where you can be, on a scale of 1 to 10, (have) athleticism two and be a great receiver,” Stuckey said today's practice. “Because details allow you to do that. If you lock-in on the details (like) understanding why your break point needs to be this, why your toe has to be pointed that way, why are we running this concept versus this coverage.
“Everything happens at a hundredth of a second,” he continued. “If I can gain a hundredth of a second and understand faster and process faster, I’ve done better than this guy, because he doesn’t know what I’m doing. I know what I’m doing, so I’m manipulating him to think one thing while I’m doing another. “
As Stuckey explains it, the difference in the details is the difference between a player with 4.5 speed playing more like a 4.7 player if the details are lacking. But if the details are there, he might push closer to 4.4
“(I am) just teaching these guys that if you lock in on the details AND you have talent, then you’re hard to stop,” he said.
The details are apparent in the kind of individual drills Stuckey puts his pupils through daily at practice. They’re not just running through the route tree, they are practicing making contested one-handed catches, over the shoulder catches, sideline toe-taps, and drills that even work on strengthening the receiver’s eyes.
“I want to create the worst possible scenario in every possible situation,” Stuckey explained. “So, when it comes, a guy has your arm, if you’re not used to making one-hand catches you’re going to freak out. But if we’ve done this, it’s the drill we did every Thursday. So, it’s in their subconscious, they understand.
“All those things help when you get to game day, because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” continued the Irish receivers coach. “How many perfect passes do we get (in) a year, not even a game, a year. Everything requires some kind of contorting your body and a guy all over you, trying to defend you, but you still have to make the catch. That’s your job.”
Details are more important now than ever for Notre Dame’s wide receiving unit. Already one of the team’s biggest areas of concern coming into training camp, Stuckey’s unit was dealt a huge blow with last week’s news that 6th year wide out Avery Davis had suffered a season-ending ACL injury for a second straight year.
Davis’ injury leaves Notre Dame with just six fully healthy scholarship receivers. One of them is former walk-on Matt Salerno. He says at least 10 scholarship receivers would be the ideal number.
It’s a hard path for Stuckey’s embattled group, but “Choose Hard” is a mantra he preaches to the unit.
“We don’t want the easy route for anything and whatever comes our way,” said Stuckey. “We deal with it and keep moving forward.
“There’s a huge void that’s left there and it’s not going to be filled by one person,” he continued. In life, a lot of times, we’re not finding out who we are until we’re thrust into a position to do something that we haven’t planned. That’s what’s happening now. You’re seeing guys starting to emerge personality wise (and) leadership wise, raise their level of play, so it’s been a beautiful sight to see.”
The lack of numbers poses another problem for the Fighting Irish receivers at practice. Stuckey must pay close attention to the practice plans laid out by head coach Marcus Freeman and then he caters his individual drills, so his guys are getting their work in, but not at the long-term expense of leg fatigue.
“We can’t run our guys in the ground,” Stuckey noted. “We have to get them to September 3rd, but the other side of the coin is they have to get the reps to be ready.”
It also means there is an even greater reliance on walk-ons. Salerno has already received a scholarship, but the non-scholarship receivers are getting more work at practice than ever. They’re held to the same standard as everyone else in the receiver room.
“The standard doesn’t change,” Stuckey said of the message to his walk-ons.
“You’re in this room, you’re in the meetings, you have the same 24 hours, every day, to study and to know what to do. Just because you’re not going in doesn’t mean anything.
“You’re not just here to hang out,” he continued. “You’re here to work. But it also instills in them how to be part of a team (and) how to work hard. That carries for all of our guys.”
One recent bright spot for Stuckey and the receivers is the timeline for Joe Wilkins’ return. Wilkins has been limited since he suffered a Lisfranc injury to his foot in the spring. It’s the same injury that sidelined Kevin Austin, Jr two years ago.
Stuckey says he was “super optimistic” Wilkins would be back after the grad student broke the foot in the spring, because he had the same injury as a player.
The hope is Wilkins can start individual work soon, but he’s still in the meeting room and going through walkthroughs. Freeman said Saturday that Wilkins is trending toward being available to play by week one or two this season.
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