Brian Kelly Talks Michigan State Week

Brian Kelly met with the media on Tuesday to discuss this weekend’s contest with Michigan State as the Irish look to extend their home winning streak to 10 against the nation’s top ranked defense.   Video and notes below.

• Kelly talked about a lot of teams using multiple backs across the country – specifically in the SEC – saying that most teams don’t have one back that fits all of their needs.  When it comes to the Notre Dame running back rotation, Kelly said that they haven’t been in the right situation to play all five how they would like.  He specifically mentioned wanting to get the freshmen in the mix more. 
• In terms of Notre Dame bringing more pressure this year, Kelly said that defensively they are still trying to find their identity and that could change as they see what they can and can’t do.  I read this this as Kelly basically saying they felt they could play more man coverage this year and blitz more but they haven’t been able to.  Hopefully this means a return of more zone coverage.
• Notre Dame opens very practice with their tackling circuit and Kelly dismissed that as a reason for the Irish struggling in the tackling department this year.
• Sheldon Day has an ankle sprain and was in a walking boot today, but that will come off on Wednesday and Kelly was optimistic that he would be able to practice Wednesday.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement that Day would be available but he also did not rule him out either.
• When asked about how being a captain has changed Bennett Jackson, Kelly conceded that Jackson may have been playing with a little pressure on him and said that he was happy to see him make a big play against Purdue since Jackson had been pretty hard on himself.
• Kelly is pretty happy with the pass protection that his offensive line has given Tommy Rees so far this year and gave Rees credit for getting the Irish in the right protections 9 out of 10 times.  Kelly also credited the success of his first time starters – Nick Martin and Ronnie Stanley – on facing Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix in practice every day.
• Kelly praised the consistency and trustworthiness of Austin Collinsworth as he’s played more.
• Kelly was non-commital on Cam McDaniel being a go to back for the Irish despite his success in the fourth quarter.  Kelly reiterated that they would continue to use more than one back.   Kelly did say that he likes the way McDaniel attacks the line of scrimmage and the level of passion he plays the game with.
• When asked about the frustration Louis Nix has experienced due to all of the double teams he’s been facing, Kelly said that Nix has done all that the coaches have asked of him and that he’s been stout against the run.  Kelly mentioned that Notre Dame held a Big Ten team to just a single rushing first down last weekend – the fewest total for a Notre Dame Big Ten opponent since 1969.
• When asked about how far along DaVaris Daniels is “two quarters” of the way there and that to reach his ceiling, he needs to improve his mental approach and play that way for all four quarters.
• When asked about his freshmen backs, Kelly said that Greg Bryant is a physical runner and gets downhill quickly.  When he first arrived, Kelly said Bryant was doing a little too much dancing, but now he gets from point A to point B.  Folston meanwhile is very smooth and catches the ball well out of the backfield.
• Kelly said that Keivarae Russell hasn’t lost his confidence and that he graded out better this week than he did last week against Michigan.
• When asked about Notre Dame’s current 9 game home winning streak, Kelly talked about improving the team’s focus by rearranging some of the activities for the team and improving the environment in the stadium.  Kelly has done a lot to change the home game schedule and atmosphere since arriving at Notre Dame and it has paid off so far.