Former Notre Dame Linebacker Greer Martini Talks Stoping The Option

Notre Dame’s 2023 season is set to kickoff Saturday when they travel to Dublin, Ireland to take on the Navy Midshipmen. The bulk of the week has been spent talking about stopping the triple option offense, preparing for the uniqueness of the challenges that scheme brings.

There may not be a better person to learn how to stop the triple option from than former Notre Dame linebacker Greer Martini, who became a weapon working against that scheme early on in his career. After playing for the Irish from 2014-2017, Martini spent some time in multiple professional leagues before turning his attention to the next stage of life.

Now the linebacker coach at the University of Charlotte, Martini went in depth on facing the triple option offense. It’s a game that you have to be ready to claw, fight and scratch to win.

"It takes a different perspective,” Martini told Irish Breakdown. "You go into that game knowing that it is going to be a gritty game. At the end of the day, you’re going to come out banged up and bruised.

"For me, that was always a game when they said, ‘Hey Greer, you’re up'," Martini continued. "I wasn’t always the starter. I wasn’t always the guy at Notre Dame but I knew that when Navy was on that schedule, or any other triple option teams, that was going to be my calling card. I was actually excited for it, which is a unique perspective because so many guys don’t really love playing the triple option, but I knew that was going to be my opportunity so I embraced it fully.”

What made the North Carolina native such a weapon against the triple option offense was an attention to detail, discipline and tenacity. It just fit his style perfectly.

"I felt like it was a game that was for me,” he explained. "One, there wasn’t going to be much passing and I wasn’t much of a coverage guy. I knew it was going to be a run 90 percent of the time so I was just flowing to the football. You have to have clean eyes, a lot of discipline from dive, to quarterback and to pitch. You have to be true to the scheme but at the end of the day, the ball is king.”

Perhaps the toughest part about playing the scheme is balancing wanting to be disciplined but also playing fast. In the end, getting to the football is key.

"From a linebacker perspective, even though I knew I had to be sound in my responsibility, I was out to find that ball every single play,” Martini said. "Everyone thinks it’s downhill, it’s super physical, but it’s more of a lateral game. It’s more scraping over tackles, reading cloudy or clear. For me, it was always about finding that open space. There’s a lot of anticipation with the game. It was about training my eyes to find open space and find the ball eventually.”

Martini continued to urge the aggressiveness playing against the scheme. It’s the best way to dominate the game according to the former Irish defender.

"Swarming to the ball is what really beats a Navy team,” he explained. "Get 11 hats to the football and swarm. You gotta stop that fullback dive. If there’s nowhere to go and get to the perimeter, Notre Dame has more athletic guys on the outside.”

The placement of the game, being the first game of the season, has been a topic of conversation this off-season. For defenders, getting it out of the way could be very beneficial, although there are multiple perspectives to consider.

"I think it’s almost an advantage that Notre Dame plays them week one because they have had multiple weeks to prepare for it nonstop,” said Martini. "Once they get through the game, they can start working against traditional offensive schemes.

"There’s a different perspective between a coach and a player,” he added. "Your biggest worry as a coach is to get everyone out of that game healthy, especially in week zero.”

Even funnier, that opinion could vary from player to player. Martini was one who always wanted it in a prime time spot.

"As a player, selfishly because I knew that was a big game for me, I look back at my experiences,” he said. "My last game of my career was against Navy. I got the game ball, had a mess of tackles, all of that. So that was an incredibly special moment for me.”

From gap integrity, eye discipline, reading your keys and everything in between, there are a lot to consider when playing native. The one thing not talked about enough is to be aggressive, cause disruption and find the football.

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