Midweek Musings
Thoughts on Notre Dame football, its recruiting efforts and college football.
BREAKOUT TIME - OFFENSIVE EDITION
Notre Dame has a chance to put a dynamic offense on the field in 2020, but that won’t happen if a number of players don’t step up. What we see from most of the veterans really doesn’t matter until we get to games, but there are some young players that need big springs, and one veteran player needs to refocus and start to shine.
Here’s a look at the five possible offensive players that are at the top of my list to key on this spring.
JUNIOR RUNNING BACKS — I am kind of cheating here, because there are two running backs I’ll keep an eye on, but only one truly “needs” to step up. If both do, great, but at least one of C’Bo Flemister and Jahmir Smith need to emerge as a productive every-down back this spring.
That means I’ll be looking at their pass protection, their technique (to make sure it’s consistent), their execution, their patience and their ability to maximize openings when they get the football. I’m also going to track, as best as I can with somewhat limited access, how consistent they are practice to practice, which is key.
Jafar Armstrong got some thought here, but even if Armstrong has a great spring, his injury history will linger over the head of the backfield until he proves during the season he can stay on the field. Beyond that, a healthy Armstrong still needs at least one more player to complement him, and that’s where the juniors come into play.
If Armstrong falters or goes down, the need for both juniors to emerge becomes even more important, and in a perfect world Flemister can clean up his game and continue to get stronger, and Smith can stay healthy, improve his pass blocking and show a bit more patience.
KEVIN AUSTIN, WIDE RECEIVER — There isn’t a more intriguing player on the roster this spring than Austin, at least for me. He has teased us with elite talent from the moment he arrived on campus, but a lack of maturity kept him from making an impact on the field. From all accounts, Austin has done a lot of growing up, has owned up to his past mistakes and has moved on in a positive manner.
If true, and if Austin is truly locked in and focused, he should have a big spring. I expect Austin to be highly motivated this spring as the junior looks to change the narrative that surrounds him. I am sure no one wants the discussion about Austin to be about what he does on the field more than he does.
Austin has a unique combination of size (6-2, 210) and athleticism. He has an impressive catch radius, good body control and shows the ability to make plays after the catch. The Florida native brings a different skillset to the boundary than what we saw the last three seasons, assuming Austin stays in the boundary.
Book and Austin haven’t worked much together the last two seasons, so this spring will be the first chance for that pair to really connect the way Austin and Jurkovec did in the past. If that happens, and Austin shows Book he can be a “go to” player the talented wideout will be at the top of the breakout list next season.
LAWRENCE KEYS III, WIDE RECEIVER — I didn’t discuss Braden Lenzy here because he’s already shown himself to be a big-time weapon. The key for Lenzy is more about proving he can stay on the field week-to-week, which he hasn’t done thus far. It’s about learning what kind of volume he can provide, not what kind of impact he can make.
Keys is someone I’m keeping my eye on because his emergence could give the offense a dynamic weapon in the slot. First of all, I don’t know if the staff plans to keep him there or not, or if they play on having Lenzy and Keys both work outside. My hope is that Keys stays in the slot, and the staff starts to better utilize the skills he brings to the game.
The New Orleans native is strong and tough for his size, and he showed in limited opportunities last season that he can make tough catches down the field (Georgia) and in the quick game (Louisville). He’s extremely quick, shows good long speed and his route running tools are impressive. Keys brings more after-the-catch skills to the game than did Chris Finke, and he’s more explosive.
My question is will the staff start to build around Keys in the slot, start to use him more to stretch the field from the inside (something it rarely did with Finke) and use the rising junior in space. That means mixing in more crossing routes, drags, pivots and screens with the option routes we saw so much of from Finke.
TOMMY TREMBLE, TIGHT END — Tremble showed flashes last season, his first in the rotation. The Atlanta native fought hard in the run game and was an effective blocker in space, but his speed and athleticism is what truly stands out.
Tremble runs like a big receiver, which should give the Irish coaches some unique matchup opportunities with him. I could see Tremble being used in a similar fashion to Tyler Eifert back in 2011 and 2012. That means not only playing attached and in the slot, but also taking advantage of instances where he can be matched up against cornerbacks on the outside. No matter where you put him, Tremble has skills that create mismatches for opponents.
This spring we’ll get a chance to see if Tremble can mature and become an every-down player. We know he can be a solid rotation player, but now we get a chance to see if he can take his game to the next level. If he can the offense will get to play with a tight end that runs as well as many wideouts.
A breakout from Trembles does more for the offense than just giving it a talented weapon. If Tremble breaks out it impacts the entire offense. How you use your safeties changes dramatically if Tremble is a legit weapon. It not only impacts how defense’s will play the run, but makes it harder and harder for them to protect against the outside speed.
AARON BANKS, LEFT GUARD — Banks has the talent of a high draft pick, but he hasn’t shown the focus or consistency needed to max out his tools. There were times last season when Banks looked really, really good, but there were way too many instances where his technique and focus lagged.
For as big and athletic as Banks is, he spends way too much time getting knocked back instead of driving defenders off the ball. He catches defenders way too much and doesn’t show the force or drive he should. Part of this is on the line coach, but Banks also needs to take it on himself to be a more impactful blocker, which starts with how he goes about his business on a day-to-day basis.
He has the talent to be an elite guard, but he hasn’t shown the focus or consistency. If he can do that this spring he’ll put himself in position for a breakout season. It would also give the Irish an elite one-two punch on the left side of the line.
If he doesn’t break out and continues to show the inconsistency he did last season, the staff should think long and hard about giving Joshua Lugg an opportunity to supplant him. If I had my way that’s where I’d put Lugg to start the spring.
ON TRANFERS
There's a push going on to allow players to make a one-time transfer without having to sit out. I think that's a horrible, awful idea. There's a reason why schools want this, and that's because coaches of top teams want it.
There are three main reasons. For big-time programs it makes it easier for them to force players out. There's no denying this, and that makes it easier for them to manipulate their roster numbers.
The other reason is programs like Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State can use the lower-level teams in their leagues as farm systems. Kid plays well at Vanderbilt or Ole Miss and all of a sudden he's transferring to Alabama.
Those lower level teams want it because they can then poach the best players from other leagues. So if Indiana or Illinois get their best players poached by Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State they can then go poach players from a MAC school.
It's not that hard to figure out, and it would have a devastating effect on the game. There's also the impact it has on young people. I coached at two levels that allow freedom for transfers, and the fact is teenagers tend to make more emotional decisions, and having to sit out a year causes many, many players to show patience instead of transferring after a year because things aren't going their way.
The current transfer rule forces young people to deal with adversity to a greater degree, and if they do decide to leave it's usually a more thoughtful and practical decision. You lose that if you open things up. You will see a lot of young men looking back and saying, "I wish I wouldn't have done that."
This would be a great rule for the top teams, who can now create even more separation with inferior teams in their league. It would be a bad rule for college football and an even worse rule for college football players.
I do have one exception, however. I would like to see a rule that does two things. One, when a head coach leaves after signing day and before the season starts every signee should have an opportunity to be immediately released from their letter of intent.
Two, when a head coach leaves for another job, I'd like for there to be a 30-day waiting period once the new coach is hired. That gives the new coach first dibs on convincing players to stay and play for him. But after 30 days any player that wants to transfer can leave without having to sit out a year.
I would counter that by allowing the school who lost a coach (not by their choice) to sign up to 30 players in the following class. If a school fires a coach I would not give them the extra scholarships, because it was their choice to make a coaching change.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
One of my biggest frustrations with many coaches is they simply look at players as pawns. How can they help them win, and if they can't they have no value. The best coaches are those who care more about developing young men, with winning being a part of that, but not the only reason for that.
That's one of the reasons I respect defensive line coach Mike Elston as much as I do. Every source I speak to says he and his family invest so much into his players beyond just football. It's about developing a family. That's what coaches should be about. Winning is important, of course, but do it while also putting as much emphasis on developing young men.
FILM TO WATCH
I continue putting out film of my favorite DL on the board for Notre Dame. This week let's take a look at Mansfield (Texas) Legacy defensive end David Abiara.
