The Irish were back on the field Wednesday morning for the fifth practice of spring ball.
Just three and a half more weeks until the Blue Gold Game and also until One Foot Down represents in South Bend on campus.
Let's get to the good stuff from earlier today.
First, let's get to the und.com practice report. Take it away Jack Nolan!
No one will say I don't pay attention to details: What does that "X" on the back of Kiel's helmet mean? Does he have to earn the right to get "Irish" put on back there?
Looking at some of these field-level shots it makes you wonder: How many of us can throw harder than Tommy Rees?
Golson continues to look like the smoothest quarterback of the bunch. Nothing he does looks mechanical or forced. You can tell he's a natural-born quarterback.
Funny moment at 4:17 of the video as Kiel is about to buckle his straps but it is edited to look like he's pointing at himself instead. Caption contest?
Kelly on the quarterbacks:
"We want our guys to be instinctual...there was a little bit too much thinking, too much programming. Maybe a little too much open to the quarterback to interpret. We're going to get away from that."
Is that yet another sign that Rees won't be the guy?
Can we just eliminate pre-snap reads from the offense in 2012? Isn't that what Kelly's offense IS NOT about?
Finally, I'm pretty sure the guy in the hat and sunglasses got run over at the end of the video.
I hope he's alright.
Here's some player/coach interviews via Irish Illustrated:
Other News & Notes:
Former Chicago Bear Olin Kreutz was at practice today. He was coached by Harry Heistand when with the Bears.
Not a bad guy to stop by practice.
Pretty interesting that Diaco comes right out and says that multiple corners will be rotated in and out of games. That might be the wise decision early on this year as that unit needs all the experience it can get. At the same time, it would be nice if someone could step up and claim a starting spot through their production on the field.
Are they really planning on taking someone like Bennett Jackson off the field all that much? Are they planning on playing two very inexperienced guys like Jalen Brown and Josh Atkinson at the same time?
Diaco also dropped this nice little quote on safety Austin Collinsworth:
"Collinsworth is having a nice spring," Diaco said. "He's a werewolf, man. I love that guy. That guy's hard not to like. He's all energy. He's a high-collision player; he's fast when he steps on the gas pedal. He's got some things obviously that he needs to work on, but he's one of the more entertaining players to watch and be around. If your energy bucket is a little empty, hang around Austin a little but and it will be filled back up in a hurry."
So it appears there are multiple werewolves on this defense?
Is Jarrett Grace aware of this?
I'm pretty comfortable with Collinsworth being one of the backups at this point, especially after this praise from Diaco. Austin is the type of football player with great instincts and hits a lot harder than his size---two great attributes to have for a safety.
Hopefully it's true that Calabrese has dropped some weight and is getting better all over the field. If he comes back for a fifth year he may be counted on as a starter in 2013.
Not really encouraging signs from Ishaq Williams. We know the coaching staff loves him but it appears his progression is going to be much slower than we thought.
Leave it to Diaco not to mince words: Shembo is playing Cat linebacker. With Ishaq "still learning" this had to be the move to make on defense. Spond and Councell can hold down the Dog position.
It's nice to hear that Kona Schwenke is improving per Coach Elston. The Irish are really going to need to solidify the depth along the defensive line and Schwenke would be an important player in that process.
Nice snippet on Tyler Stockton from Elston as well. Should we give up hope now?
Officially there is no depth chart and Kapron Lewis-Moore has been running some with the Two's to ease his way back into the lineup from knee surgery. I've got no problem there.
I find it very interesting that they are keeping Sheldon Day solely at defensive end this year. I get the reasoning of not wanting to teach him two positions, but he seems like such a better fit at nose guard or a tackle when the defense puts 4-men up front.
Go Irish!