Notre Dame releases its spring football practice schedule and media availability

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish start spring practice this week as they prepare for the 2019 season. Among grander hopes, the Irish are trying to have its third double-digit win season in a row for the first time since the 1991, 1992, and 1993 stretch. During those three years, Notre Dame was 31-5-1. The biggest difference is that the Irish won three major bowl games in those years.

Notre Dame released their spring practice schedule today:

Courtesy of Notre Dame

The Irish have scheduled their full allotment of practice time that the NCAA allows. This includes 14 practices, and the annual Blue-Gold Game played inside Notre Dame Stadium on April 13 at 12:30 PM.

Of the 14 practices, 7 of them will be open to the media. There is also one more that the media will be allowed to view for the first 45 minutes of practice.

Notre Dame heads into spring ball with Ian Book firmly entrenched as the starting quarterback, but this will be a critical time for redshirt freshman Phil Jurkovec as well. Jurkovec will see his reps in practice increase dramatically, and this time to learn more about the offense could eventually be crucial during the 2019 campaign if something were to happen to Book this year.

Offensively, the Irish will be looking to find key replacements at wide receiver and running back. Kevin Austin and Jafar Armstrong most likely have the edge in both cases, but both position groups offer strong competition behind them.

Defensively, Notre Dame has a lot to replace up the middle with both inside linebackers and defensive tackles now gone. The Irish also have a massive hole at cornerback with All-American Julian Love’s departure for the NFL.

It all starts this Friday, March 1, with a noon press conference with Brian Kelly.