Print Edition of the Irish Insider of The Observer for Friday, September 1, 2017

By TOBIAS HOONHOUT

Associate sports editor

e ven after last year’s first losing season under b rian Kelly with d e s hone Kizer at the helm, b randon Wimbush wasn’t sure if Team 129 would be his. All the talk over the first few months of the offseason was about whether Kizer would stay for his senior season or bolt for the n FL. b ut when Kizer announced his decision in January, the Teaneck, n ew Jersey, native finally knew he would have his chance.

“I mean, I didn’t even know after the season ended until the beginning of January,” Wimbush said on the experience during a press conference in April. “ b ut I was ready to prepare myself and prepare myself to compete for another year as d e s hone [Kizer] had two years of eligibility left. d idn’t know too much about what m alik [Zaire] was doing, and I hope the best for them, but I’m very excited for this opportunity.”

As a consensus top-50 recruit and Under Armour AllAmerican out of high school,

Wimbush’s talent is undeniable, and his brief cameos against U m ass and Pitt during the 2015 season had Irish fans excited about the future. Although he had to wait patiently for his turn behind first Zaire and then Kizer, Wimbush seems to have used his time to develop as a quarterback, as a leader and as a person. And from what his teammates and coaches have been saying, the patience seems to have paid off.

“ h e’s definitely grown a lot,” junior running back and captain Josh Adams said

Tuesday. “I mean, he’s definitely getting a feel for things. h e definitely looks more comfortable, and he’s having fun, which is an important aspect of this game that people tend to forget about is just to go out there and have fun and just to play with your teammates.

“ … h e definitely has that confidence. You don’t see that in a lot of young quarterbacks, but he definitely carries himself well, respectfully. h e’s definitely a different type of guy that we definitely enjoy having as our quarterback,

and we can’t wait to see what he’s going to do on s aturday. Yeah, that’s definitely my guy right there.”

c aptain and pre-season All-American left tackle m ike m cGlinchey echoed Adams’ sentiments.

“ h e’s a kid that knows how to control his emotions,” m cGlinchey said. “ h e’s cool, calm and collected. I think he’s the coolest kid I know, just in terms of just the aura about b randon Wimbush. h e’s going to be fine. h e knows exactly what he’s going to be doing and knows

exactly what he’s capable of, and he’s going to let it shine on s aturday. We’re lucky to have b randon because of who he is as a person and the type of player that he is for sure, and I don’t think s aturday is going to be any different for b randon than it is on a Tuesday in the fall, either.”

And although he has yet to start a game, the team is already looking to him as a leader.

“o bviously we all know b randon’s athletic ability and his ability to extend plays, get outside the pocket,” senior linebacker d rue Tranquill said. “ h e’s a proficient passer, got a strong arm, but I think — when I think about b randon, I think about the intangible qualities I’ve seen in him this off-season, his ability to get a group of guys rallied around him, even a guy who hasn’t necessarily taken a lot of snaps, really any, in that regard, but guys believe in him, and you look for that in a leader.”

e ven among the coaching staff, there’s a sense that Wimbush’s ability to be n otre d ame’s quarterback is much more than just his talent.

“I think really where it starts for most quarterbacks that I have coached is their ability to move through a poor play and get to the next play, let it go and move on to the next play, not let it affect the next one,” head coach b rian Kelly said.

“ h e has the great ability to show, and I know you hear this quite a bit now, it’s chronicled everywhere, but he has a passion for the game and he’s got perseverance.

I think Angela d uckworth called that in her book ‘Grit.’ h e’s got grit. h e’s got such a passion for what he does, and because he loves what he does, he doesn’t get down. If he makes a mistake, he fights

through it and he gets to the next play.

“ … That’s a great quality to have in anything that we do in life. I mean, I’d like to be better at it, too. b ut he does it at the quarterback position, which is a really fine trait to have for a young player.”

Funny as it may sound, this waiting game isn’t even the first one for Wimbush. In high school during his time at s t. Peter’s Prep, b randon had to wait to start until his junior season. While the past two years may have been deja vu, for Wimbush, it was something he could really embrace.

“I don’t think I was ready in high school to start my sophomore year or freshman

year,” Wimbush said. “Those guys who were in front of me did a great job, and then same kind of scenario here, where I had two great guys in front of me, and I was able to learn and sit back a little bit and progress and develop physically and mentally, and now I feel like I’m ready to take over the reins and do something special here.”

b ut now that the moment is finally here, the junior is simply just embracing his role and hoping to learn from his teammates.

“Yeah, it’s a whole new experience for me, especially as a starting quarterback,” he said. “I approached it kind of differently for the first two years that I was here being

behind those guys, but I’m trying to build a routine, a pregame routine or a preweek routine. It’s my first week going through it. As a starter, I told Josh [Adams] and d exter [Williams] the other day, I was like, ‘ h ey, man, I feel like a rookie, and you guys to me are seasoned veterans right now because you’ve done this,’ and I’m just trying to prepare and be on the same level as those guys, and hopefully perform to the level expectation that the rest of the offense and the team needs from me.”

As it goes with all college football programs, there comes time to do away with the old and bring in the new. In many ways, Team

129 seems like a rebirth of b rian Kelly’s Irish coaching era, and Wimbush is at the front and center. b ut for all the positive talk and energy leading up to the season, s aturday’s opener is where the rubber meets the road. For Wimbush, that means leading the Irish back to their winning ways.

“[I’m most excited to be] singing the alma mater and the fight song at the end of it,” the quarterback said. “Knowing that we came out with a ‘W’ and just feeling the joy of a winning team and being the starting quarterback of that team.”

Contact Tobias Hoonhout at thoonhou@nd.edu

Kelly must avoid repeat of last year’s mistakes

Ben Padanilam editor-in-c hief

Last season was a disappointment for the i rish, and everyone knows it.

e ven head coach b rian Kelly.

i t’s certainly helped temper the expectations for this year’s squad, at least outside the locker room. This team is just as talented as last year’s and has another year of experience, but it certainly doesn’t have the top-10, playoff contender expectations like it did a year ago.

a 4-8 season filled with deflation will do that. People don’t easily forget the faults of bad years.

e xcept maybe head coach b rian Kelly.

o n a ug. 17, b leacher r eport published a story after talking with Kelly last season. d uring the interview, he referred to himself as an “absent professor” last season and blamed fundraising for that, saying it “f—-d up last year’s team.” a nd these comments were, to say the least, interesting. a ll of last season, Kelly deflected blame and responsibility for his team’s shortcomings. h e praised the defensive coaching one day, fired the defensive coordinator the next. h e publicly called out his center and starting quarterback for not doing enough and trying to do too much.

i n other words, last season was everyone else’s fault but his own.

This past offseason, however, that mentality supposedly changed. For the first time in his career, Kelly had individual exit meetings with every player to discuss what went wrong and what more he could do. From there, he attended the team’s 6 a.m. strength and conditioning workouts. h e made it a point of emphasis to eat more of his meals at the training table.

h e was taking some of the responsibility for what happened last season. h e was trying to rebuild the relationships he strained, even severed, last season.

Which brings us back to

those comments.

m aybe his comments were true. Fundraising, particularly at a school like n otre d ame, is a major responsibility in college football, where schools are constantly competing with one another in an arena driven by great wealth and the even greater facilities that wealth can build.

b ut at this point, does it make a difference whether or not its true? a nd why say that now?

Kelly spent all offseason trying to address the lack of accountability that defined last season. b ut in one comment, he proved that old habits do in fact die hard, and he made another excuse for the disappointment that

was last season.

a nd not many people seemed to care.

s ome pundits pointed to the challenges that come with fundraising as legitimate, giving Kelly credit for his honesty. o thers gave him a pass for the comments entirely.

b ut not enough people criticized him for saying it.

This year’s i rish squad has a lot of new faces — most notably new coordinators and a new quarterback. b ut the position this team is in is all too similar to last year: n otre d ame has the talent to be a contender, but it is not clear whether it has the intangibles to capitalize on that talent.

Leadership is one of those intangibles. i t’s a trait Kelly lacked last year, even by his own admission. b ut it’s one which rejects excuses — excuses like the ones Kelly made throughout last year. e xcuses like the one Kelly made in that interview. a nd so when there’s even a hint that the mistakes of last year’s failure could creep into this year, it should be cause for concern. a s the i rish enter s aturday’s game with Temple, it is crucial that Kelly holds himself accountable not only for the successes of his team, but also its failures. There is no denying that Kelly has had success running the show at n otre d ame for quite some time; but his role in last year’s letdown can’t be ignored just because of that either.

Kelly’s faults certainly shouldn’t be the only thing that defines the narrative of his career at n otre d ame. b ut history risks repeating itself if they are ignored, too.

a nd that is why Kelly’s comments on a ug. 17 should tighten the microscope on him entering this season, not remove it.

Contact Ben Padanilam at bpadanil@nd.edu

The opinions in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Irish enjoy strong summer on recruiting trail

By DANIEL O’BOYLE sports Writer

o rdinarily, not much can be expected in summer recruiting when a team comes off a 4-8 season. Yet the i rish bolstered the recruiting class of 2018 with a series of major recruits over the summer.

i n a two-week period between late July and early a ugust, the i rish saw a flurry of top linebacker commitments. Three-star outside linebacker o vie o ghoufo, rated as the ninth-best player in m ichigan in r ivals. com’s rankings, announced his commitment to the i rish on July 22, and was soon followed by two four-stars: inside linebackers Jack Lamb and outside linebacker s hayne s imon, each rated among the top 10 players in the nation at their position. b rian d riskell, recruiting analyst for b lue and Gold i llustrated, said the i rish hit almost every target they needed to over the summer.

“ i think that when you look at it, they kind of set some markers down of who they have a shot with, and with very few exceptions they landed the guys they wanted to land,” d riskell said. “ s hane s imon was the number one r over on the board, a top player and a high-ranked guy; they really needed to add him, and they got him. The one loss they had is they lost [outside linebacker] d allas Gant to o hio s tate right after the spring game. b ut they countered that by going after Jack Lamb from c alifornia — and he’s actually a better player — and they got him. s o, the one big loss ended up being a positive because they adjusted their board and got an even better player.”

While defensive recruits took center stage for much of the summer, with fourstar defensive tackle Jayson a demilola’s June commitment also among the major gets for i rish head coach b rian Kelly’s staff, the latest

and highest-rated commitment came from four-star wide receiver Kevin a ustin, rated as a top 100 player in the country and a top 20 wide receiver.

“ i think this summer has been surprising, because you don’t expect a team that has had the turmoil surrounding this team last year to be so effective on the recruiting trail, but they really have,” d riskell said. “They have the opportunity now if they finish strong to have one of the five best classes in the country.”

This week, n otre d ame will host three prospective recruits, who will have an opportunity to see the i rish play at a newly-renovated n otre d ame s tadium

featuring changes such as a 5,264-square foot video board. o f the three recruits, four-star defensive end Thomas b ooker is the highest-rated. b ooker visited n otre d ame in the spring, but with s tanford also hoping to land the b altimore native, his second visit could be crucial for the i rish, d riskell said.

“ h e’ll be a very, very important recruit for n otre d ame,” d riskell said. “ o ne area where the team really has to continue to recruit well is at defensive end. h e also has an offer from s tanford and i think it’s 5050 between the two right now, but being on campus again, seeing the changes to the team, seeing what

the defense could look like with him in it, could make a difference.”

Three-star defensive end Joseph o ssai and four-star cornerback Kyler Gordon will also be in attendance s aturday. d riskell said he feels both players are likely to commit to schools closer to home, but a strong visit could make a substantial difference.

“ o ssai’s a very raw player, skinny but a good athlete,” he said. “ h e comes from a c atholic family and is very big on academics, so that part of n otre d ame will appeal, but right now n otre d ame is trailing T c U and Texas. i think it’ll be tough to pull him out of his home state. b ut any time a kid

visits, there’s a chance they fall in love.

“ r ight now i think n otre d ame is sort of playing catch-up with the west-coast schools for Kyler Gordon, but again when a kid visits there’s always a chance. h e’s a talented player and cornerback is a big, big need area for n otre d ame. There may not be a lot of recruits coming this week, but it’s three guys who all play positions that will be really important to this class.”

Perhaps the most talkedabout piece of the class of 2018 will be four-star quarterback Phil Jurkovec. r ated as the 80th-best player in the nation and the fifth-best dual-threat quarterback, the 6-foot-5, 190-pound

Pennsylvania native was one of the earliest i rish commits in his class, making his decision in m ay 2016. on sunday, Jurkovec showed the nation why the i rish coaching staff made him a top priority, as he led Pine-r ichland h igh school (Gibsonia, Pa.) to a dominant 41-0 victory over Wayne ( huber heights,

ohio) in the Geico esPn h igh school Kickoff. i n a little over a half, Jurkovec dominated the Warriors through the air and on the ground, completing 14 of 20 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 106 yards and another three scores.

“he’s a four-star player right now, but his performance was

definitely that of a five-star player,” driskell said. “You just don’t find a lot of quarterbacks who are tall, can stand in the pocket and throw the football, but are also a dynamic runner. he’s a young man who can take off and make players with designed runs and he can make plays when things break down. i n today’s game, the best

quarterbacks are guys who can make plays with both their arm and their legs. Phil’s that kind of guy. i think you could also see he can elevate the play of those around him, that’s the most important trait in a quarterback. That Wayne team they beat on sunday has gone 38-4 in the last three years, but it was a dominant win. a nd that’s going

to impact the class as a whole.

“When one of your best players, especially your quarterback, is able to go on national T v and play like that, it gets other people saying, ‘You know what? i’d like to play with that guy.’”

Contact Daniel O’Boyle at doboyle1@nd.edu

OWLS pASSING

Last season was rough for the Irish defense as a whole and the secondary in particular. There were blown coverages, missed tackles and nowhere near enough pressure generated to make up for the other shortcomings.

but former defensive coordinator brian vanGorder was fired midway through last season, and Irish head coach brian Kelly elected to entrust his defense to m ike e lko — the former defensive coordinator at Wake Forest.

e lko’s scheme will supposedly focus less on fancy schemes and more on talent development, which is a good sign. but holes in the secondary have remained visible all throughout summer training camp.

Luckily for notre dame, Temple does not appear on paper to be a team that can take advantage of the weak Irish secondary. Last year, the o wls only averaged 237 yards of passing per game and are generally a run-first team.

on top of that, Temple head coach Geoff collins has said that three quarterbacks will see playing time against the Irish. none of those three quarterbacks have significant experience. combine that with a hostile environment and the difficulty in establishing a rhthym with a three-quarterback system, the o wls passing attack may fall flat.

eDGe : Notre Dame

OWLS RUSHING

Temple makes no secret about its desire to run the ball. While the o wls run game will not look like the triple-option notre dame regularly sees with Army and navy, the Irish front seven may have its hands full.

Last season, Temple averaged 176 rushing yards per game on just over 40 attempts. Temple’s top rusher from last season — Jahad Thomas — graduated, but junior ryquell Armstead ran for over 900 yards and 16 touchdowns in the 2016 campaign, and backups Jager Gardner and david hood have experience as well.

For the Irish front, controlling the line of scrimmage will be the key to the game on defense. senior linebackers Greer martini and nyles morgan have looked great against the run historically, but the depth

of the defensive line will be tested if the o wls stick to the run game, as many expect them to do. Whether or not the freshman defensive tackles step up when called upon for the Irish is one of this game’s more important questions.

e DGe : e V e N

OWLS OFFe NSIV e COACHING

This season is head coach Geoff collins’ first in Philedelphia after former head coach matt r hule left for the head spot at baylor. collins has been known as a defensive mind, however, and the offense will be run primarily by offensive coordinator dave Patenaude.

Patenaude is also in his first year with the program, and how he handles a highly-talented defense remains to be seen.

notre dame also has a number of new coaches, including defensive coordinator mike elko. elko’s defense at Wake Forest consistently performed at a high level — without many top recruits. now with a better talent pool, elko is hoping to duplicate the results, if not surpass them, in south bend. elko has proven he can succeed against Power-5 offenses, but Irish fans will expect a rapid turnaround.

e DGe : Notre Dame

OWLS SpeCIAL te A mS

In 2015, Temple kicker Austin Jones broke the school record with 23 made field goals in one season, and he made 19 straight attempts in 2016, before tearing his AcL. he currently ranks third in school history with 36 field goals to his name.

The Irish had two blocked field goals returned for touchdowns last season.

e DGe : temple

OWLS SCHeDULe (0-0)

sept. 2 @ Notre Dame

sept. 9 Villanova

sept. 15 UMass

sept. 21 @ USF

sept. 30 Houston

oct. 7 @East Carolina

oct. 14 @UConn

oct. 21 @ Army

nov. 2 Navy

nov. 10 @Cincinnati

nov. 18 UCF

nov. 25 @Tulsa

Yes, we all remember that the Irish finished 4-8 last season. It spurred many changes, leaving the Irish with new faces at just about every major spot that isn’t head coach.

so brian Kelly and his team will certainly be motivated to start the season strong, and they have plenty of talent to do it. but the same could have been said of last year’s squad.

This notre dame team is still fairly young, and its new faces will have its share of early growing pains. but fortunately for the Irish, they’ll face a Temple squad that lost a lot from last year’s 10-win group. With the owls having too many unanswered questions and not enough talent to make up for it, the Irish will be able to come away with the win it wishes it had opened last season with.

FINAL SCORE: notre dame 34, Temple 21

Assistant managing editor

He A d

my prediction is more a reflection of my feeling about the season as a whole rather than just the Temple game.

brian Kelly made several good hires in the offseason after he admitted he screwed up a bunch of things. but a bunch of new coaches and some new freshmen don’t make the Irish a championship contender. The secondary looks very suspect and the depth on the defensive line should be very worrying.

And hey, Temple has a lot of grit. They certainly aren’t as talented as the Irish, but then again, the Irish were more talented than almost every team they played last year and still lost.

I can very easily see Temple hanging around for too long in a game it has no business being in.

FINAL SCORE: notre dame 35, Temple 28

The Irish have too much riding on their first game of the season to drop it to Temple, who will be playing its first game under head coach Geoff collins.

Temple’s depth chart is covered in question marks, most notably at the quarterback position, where the owls have yet to name a starter. As notre dame learned last season, waiting until the last second to name a starter during a quarterback battle, or not naming one at all, does not always yield results. notre dame has too much to prove after its abysmal 4-8 season. Junior quarterback brandon Wimbush is ready to shine under center, and the Irish offense is prepared to help him do so. While the defense is more questionable and will still give up points, notre dame is a team that is ready to go and showcase all the changes it has put in place since last season.

end Durham Smythe leaps into the end zone during Notre Dame’s 28-27 loss to Navy on Nov. 5, 2016, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville,

touchdown against the Midshipmen was one of Smythe’s four scores on the year, as he also found the end zone twice against Army and once against Michigan State.

game, such as being aggressive and attacking the football.

“[attacking] is what coach e lko emphasizes,” sophomore cornerback Julian Love said. “We will attack and we will create turnovers and ball disruptions. That’s what we’re trying to be known for.”

“[e lko’s scheme] allows you to just line up and play your assignment, you understand it,” senior linebacker Greer martini said. “The coaches have done an outstanding job preparing us for this game, the amount of reps we’ve taken is so much more than we have before in a game prep.”

The 2016 Wake Forest defense featured two players with at least 17.0 tackles for a loss, and senior linebacker nyles morgan said he thinks that can be him this year.

“h is philosophy is getting into the backfield,” morgan said. “The biggest thing for me, a lot of things that they’re coaching show up in film all the time. Guys getting in the backfield, guys getting TFLs, guys getting sacks. it’s exciting knowing that the things that are being preached to you and coached to you are actually working.”

a less complicated defense will also lead to a fresher squad, according to Tranquill, as underclassmen will be able to step in, without worrying about overly-complicated schemes.

“i think last year in order for guys to play, they have to understand the defense,” Tranquill said. “They have to understand the schematics behind what you’re doing, and when you have a complicated defense, not a lot of guys can grasp it, so you’ve got to leave guys out there who know what they’re doing and can make the checks and calls, but when you simplify things, it allows a lot more guys to get out on the field and keep your guys fresh.”

notre dame will come out with an aggressive mindset on saturday, but as martini pointed out, the focus is first and foremost on winning.

“The focus is right now, we have to beat Temple,” martini said. “The business that we’re in is winning and so it doesn’t matter how it gets done, as long as it gets done.”

Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu

Irish junior running back and captain Josh Adams looks upfield during Notre Dame’s 28-27 loss to Navy on Nov. 5, 2016, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Adams has averaged 6.4 yards per carry over his two seasons at Notre Dame, rushing for 1,768 yards and 11 touchdowns over that time period.

Paid a dverT isemen T

Owls enter season with new faces, questions

By ELIZABETH GREASON sports editor

Just a few days before the season opener, Temple finds itself in a similar position to the one n otre d ame was in this time last year — in the midst of a struggle for the quarterback position.

h owever, there is an added layer of interest for the o wls, as it is head coach Geoff c ollins’ first season at the helm after taking over for m att r hule, who took the head coaching position at b aylor after leading Temple to its first two 10-win seasons. c ollins — whose 23 years of coaching experience are highlighted by two years as defensive coordinator at m ississippi s tate followed by a stint at the same position at Florida — is looking to help the o wls pick up where they left off. This is something he believes will be made easier by the fact that he had extensive knowledge about Temple and the entire Temple philosophy due to his relationship with r hule before accepting the head coaching job.

“ i t was a great transition. The best thing about this program is these kids,” c ollins said in a s unday teleconference. “They’re unbelievable as far as how they work, their attitudes on a daily basis. They’re positive to be around each other, they want to get better, want to find an edge in everything that they do. m e and m att r hule have known each other for 20 plus years as well; he’s one of my best friends in the world, so i knew a lot of the things that were going on here for the last 10 years and a lot of the philosophies, a lot of the cultures that were already in existence.

“ b eing an sec defensive coordinator for so long, every year you get approached for a different job, but this was the one because i knew the background, i knew the culture, i knew the place here and i knew it was going to be a seamless transition. i came in here and the kids have been amazing. o ur coaching staff has really bonded with these players. There’s a sign in every single coach’s room that says, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” and that was a big thing for us to build that trust early. a nd our coaches did a fantastic job and our kids did the same thing and it’s been really, really good and really positive.”

h owever, picking up where they left off will be slightly more difficult without quarterback P.J. Walker. a nd the o wls still have no clear replacement for Walker.

i nstead, they have four valid options. c ollins has narrowed the quarterback competition from four to two over the course of the offseason: senior Frank n utile and junior Logan m archi. a nd while he did say in a Tuesday press conference that he did know which of the two would get the starting nod s aturday, something i rish head coach b rian Kelly never admitted to last season when he found himself in the same position, he did not expand on the answer, leaving everyone guessing as to which of the two will be under center in n otre d ame s tadium this weekend.

c ollins did not rule out the possibility of any of the four quarterbacks, n utile and m archi, as well as sophomore a nthony r usso and freshman Todd c enteio, taking snaps throughout the course of the game.

“There’s two quarterbacks that are getting most of the reps, but we are also working specialized packages with some pretty unique things with some other guys, so it’s going to be exciting,” c ollins said s unday. “The team’s routing around the guys and i know our receiving corps and our running backs and our tight ends want to do their part to make sure that they complement whoever is under center throughout the game.”

c ollins feels confident with each of the quarterbacks’ ability to step up when called upon because of the attitude the o wls have taken in preparation for the season: e ach and every player needs to be ready to take the field on gameday if called upon.

“ i think the way our guys are preparing, really every guy in the program, are preparing like they’re going to play the entire game, like they’re the guy,” c ollins said. “a nd i think that the development of a player accelerates when every kid in the program is thinking that way. We’re doing that at

linebacker, at db , across the board. We want every single one of our kids preparing and getting ready like it’s their shot, because you never know, it might be.”

c ollins added that, down the line, he is not necessarily planning on selecting just one starter, and that the o wls could be rotating

between multiple starters for the entire season.

“The way college football is set up, every week is a different week, so obviously we will move toward that if the situation presents itself,” c ollins said. “Whatever’s the best for the team and how the offense is moving. The situation at running back,