Notre Dame Practice Report: Offensive Line - Practice #1
The Notre Dame offensive line, which is now led by coach Harry Hiestand, went outside during the open portions of the first practice of spring, and there was as lot of work getting done.
Before we dive into the specifics of what we saw a few quick notes. Things can and often change, but at least for the portion that we saw sophomore Blake Fisher was at right tackle and classmate Joe Alt was at left tackle, which is where that duo ended the 2021 season. Junior Tosh Baker was behind Alt at left tackle and sophomore Caleb Johnson was behind Fisher at right tackle.
Veteran Joshua Lugg was at right guard, senior Andrew Kristofic and sophomore Rocco Spindler were at left guard. Senior Zeke Correll was at center with Jarrett Patterson out, but we also saw junior Michael Carmody at center. Carmody started two games at left tackle last season so it's clear the staff wants to see what he can do inside at center as it looks to build depth there.
Hiestand was his usual intense self during practice. There was constant instruction and encourage with each rep. Hiestand spent a great deal of the individual period emphasizing pad level, working vertically and working "through" the opponent. Obviously those are all very important points of emphasis for the line based on what Hiestand has always stood for and also what is needed from this line based on previous seasons.
Of course, Hiestand also emphasized the need to keep working through contact.
One of the great aspects of the practice was how Hiestand kept the entire offensive line engaged. When other players were taking reps Hiestand would ask other players not taking the rep what they saw. One example is Hiestand asked Blake Fisher what he noticed from the drill that just happened. That's a great coaching tool.
Here are some personnel observations:
Blake Fisher - The talented sophomore re-shaped his body quite a bit. Fisher is still massive but he looked leaner and in really good shape. His quickness out of his stance took a jump forward and he showed good pop when engaging an opponent. Fisher had a very impressive reach block in which he exploded out of his stance during a drill and quickly overtook the player lined up on his outside.
Joe Alt - Another talented sophomore, Alt seems to have added a few good pounds since the end of the 2021 season. Alt bends well for such a long athlete and he showed a bit more pop coming out of his stance.
Joshua Lugg - Lugg looked really good inside at guard during drills. His burst off the line was really good and of course he showed good punch. His pad level stayed good out of his stance and he did a very good job driving his feet through contact.
Michael Carmody - As expected, Carmody was a bit inconsistent today working at a new position. His snaps were a bit erratic and Hiestand got on him about working through defenders instead of working too far away as he goes to the second level. They ran a particular drill three times and Hiestand noted Carmody got better each time, but on the third rep he nailed it and Hiestand was very vocal in praising the effort and execution.
Zeke Correll - Seeing Correll back at center was expected but was still a positive development. He looked quick off the ball and did a good job keeping his pads low, which was an issue for him in 2021.
Rocco Spindler - Spindler is certainly the thickest of the linemen, showing a much thicker lower body and core than the rest of his teammates. He showed good pop coming off the ball but he needs to work his feet a bit quicker than we saw today in drills.
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