Notre Dame Football Spring Practice Report: 3-26-14

Notre Dame Football finished its 6th practice of spring on Wednesday morning. The media was not allowed to watch practice but both new coordinators, Mike Denbrock and Brian VanGorder, were made available after practice.

BGI had some nice recaps on those talks. First with Denbrock here are some choice excerpts from the offensive coordinator:

"We knew going into this year that there were going to be some tweaks to what we did offensively because of the quarterbacks we were going to have and our ability to do that. We wanted to implement a game plan in the bowl game I think that kind of gave us a quick sneak peek of some of the possibilities we had and that was the general thought headed into that game in particular."

"The defense is doing a number of different things which is exciting for all of us. It gives our guys exposure to a number of different schemes, different looks. ... As it comes together and fits together and when guys are doing things correctly and the way they're coached to do, this offense has got an opportunity to be incredibly explosive and be the type of offense that can put points on the board."

"Having the versatility we do at the quarterback position opens up a whole assortment of nuances and subtleties to some of the schemes that we were already running in a lot of situations. Putting defenses in a position where if they do want to put another defender in the box, you can account for him with the quarterback running the football for instance. ... Just those opportunities to get the quarterbacks with their athletic ability out in space and threaten the defense a little bit more."

Now with defensive coordinator VanGorder on the defensive backs playing press man coverage:

"I'd love to do that," he said. "I think my mindset, especially in today's game, is to take more and more control on defense by being aggressive. It starts out there. That's where you start your decisions as a coach. Can we hold up out there?"

On former walk-on Joe Schmidt's impressive spring so far:

"He's way ahead of most of the guys in terms of the defense. He's really superior in the learning area. He's got a good grasp of it already. He's a good communicator. He's a great standard and expectations guy. He's got great pride in himself. That's obvious with him. That kind of guy, a coach gets attached to that kind of player."

On the players out with injuries who are not able to participate in learning the new system:

"It will be uphill. Each player is a little bit different, but they're definitely going to be behind. These are young players. You miss time, you miss repetitions, you miss experience, it slows the whole process down. There's just no getting around it."

UND.com Practice Video 3-26-14

What's up with Will Fuller in the cold gear at 0:28?

At 2:53 Greg Bryant is looking smooth in his route. On the next play Day drives Elmer back about 5 yards.

At 3:08 it's a good battle between Matuska and Bivin. I like the quickness for a big man of Jarron Jones' size at 3:16 as well.

Nice rep by Colin McGovern at 3:26 against Romeo Okwara.

We see open field speed brings Chris Brown absolute joy to end the video.

UND.com Bonus Video - Coaches Coaching

UND.com Brian VanGorder Interview Video