Spring Practice Report: Day Four

After heading indoors Monday, the Irish returned outdoors to the LaBar Practice Complex in full pads. It was party cloudy with the sun shining through, but a strong, north wind blew over the practice fields.

General Observations

The Irish players that didn’t have pads on were E.J. Banks, Taylor Dever, Darius Fleming, Anthony McDonald, Kerry Neal, Trevor Robinson and George West.

Former Irish quarterback Joe Montana returned to practice today. Other visitors included former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville, who is speaking at the coaches clinic this weekend, and Ron Powlus, Sr., joined by the youngest, Ron Powlus, III.

Instead of sitting on a chair on the sideline like Monday, Charlie Weis was walking around the practice field. He made an extended stop by Tony Alford.

During warm up drills, Eric Olsen ran in a forward direction while the others moved laterally. He doesn’t appear to be slowed down at all, though, and is still the first one out to the stretch lines when they break.

When Darrin Walls got to his spot, he met with Brandon Walker for a handshake and back bump.

“Get back in line, Walker,” Polian jokingly shouted.

Rob Ianello and Ron Powlus met by the quarterbacks and wide receivers to go over a few things. Both coaches then spent the remainder of the stretch period talking to their players. Powlus spent the most time with Jimmy Clausen and Dayne Crist, and Ianello with Deion Walker and Robby Parris.

Frank Verducci headed over to Jon Tenuta for a quick laugh, and Tenuta then teamed up with Corwin Brown to talk about the defense.

Randy Hart gets down and close to his players when he’s talking to them during stretch.

Just before the players broke from stretch for the team huddle, the Notre Dame fight song played over the loud speaker from the lacrosse game taking place on Alumni Field. It was a busy day on campus as the Irish baseball and softball teams were in action as well, and with the basketball team hosting Kentucky for the quarterfinals of the NIT.

Defensive Unit

The defense started things off with pursuit drills.

The first team was Kapron Lewis-Moore and John Ryan as defensive ends, Ethan Johnson and Ian Williams as defensive tackles, Brian Smith, Scott Smith, and Toryan Smith as linebackers, Robert Blanton and Raeshon McNeil as cornerbacks, and Kyle McCarthy and Harrison Smith as safeties.

The second team was Emeka Nwankwo and Morrice Richardson as defensive ends, Brandon Newman and Hafis Williams as defensive tackles, Steve Filer, Zeke Motta, and David Posluszny as linebackers, Jamoris Slaughter and Darrin Walls as cornerbacks, and Sergio Brown and Dan McCarthy as safeties.

In nickel, Richardson replaced Lewis-Moore at end after Lewis-Moore bumped down inside in place of Williams. Brown lined up as the nickel in place of Posluszny as the linebacker.

Today, I watched the defensive line.

The defensive backs started with sideline tackle drills. Next they worked on coming up to defend the toss with the two players fitting in on the tackle.

The linebackers worked downhill over a series of bags. After that, they fitted in on a tackle by making sure they put their head across the body. Next they worked on punching the wooden sled and focused on staying low and taking the proper step.

The defensive line kicked things off with a contact drill where they worked in a circle in groups of three to get a good punch in.

“You’re pushing, you need to punch,” Hart quickly shouted to the group.

Hart talks very quickly and runs through the drills at a fast pace. Even though things are moving non-stop, his players better be listening and know what’s going on.

“I’m not going to tell you again,” he said to Nwankwo after he didn’t follow the drill correctly.

Young stood to the side and chimed in when he saw that a player’s technique wasn’t sharp enough.

Hart may move fast, but he also stops everything to coach his players up once a mistake is repeated.

“Light him up inside,” he said. “I don’t want to see thumbs down. Keep your hands inside!”

Before the media’s time was up, the linemen ran a fifteen-yard shuttle. Neal wasn’t dressed, but participated in the drill.