Brian Kelly Talks QBs and the Defensive 2-Deep

When Brian Kelly met with the media yesterday he shared plenty of depth chart movement not everyone was expecting to hear already.  Aside from naming Everett Golson his starting quarterback, he also named freshman Andrew Trumbetti his starting weak-side defensive end.  He had a whole more to share though.

Here’s the video of Kelly’s session with the media along with some notes.

• The only injured that has anyone in danger of missing the season opener at this time is Torii Hunter who is doubtful.
• The OL lineup is still a work in progress.  Matt Hegarty, Ronnie Stanley, and Conor Hanratty have all missed some time throughout camp which hasn’t allowed the staff to settle in on a starting five at this point.
• Kelly made the decision on the starting quarterback on Tuesday night.  He informed his staff on Tuesday night and then let Golson and Malik Zaire know on Wednesday morning.
• Ishaq Williams is entrenched as the starting strong side defensive end.
• James Onwualu has moved into the top spot at the SAM position ahead of John Turner and Ben Councell.
• Greer Martini has emerged at the WILL position and is currently in the two-deep.  Kelly described Martini as a “Joe Schmidt with really good size.”
• Jarrett Grace is still a couple of weeks away  Kelly said he was out there running through bags, but still has a little bit of a limp.
• Jonathan Bonner has had an excellent camp playing the 3-technique and is in the 2-deep behind Sheldon Day right now.
• The staff wants to use Elijah Shumate more as a box safety playing closer to the line of scrimmage. Kelly said he is making progress.
• Notre Dame will practice four times in Notre Dame Stadium leading up to the season and then once a week during the season to help work in the new turf.  Kelly said the players love it.
• Notre Dame is going to have to generate a pass rush a lot of different ways because they won’t have a “14 sack player” in this defense.  Instead Notre Dame will rely on using a number of different players to get at the quarterback in different ways.
• Cody Riggs is now the other starting corner opposite Keivare Russell right now.  Riggs had to miss practice the other day for his accelerated business program which gave Cole Luke and Devin Butler some extra reps which Kelly said they made the most out of.
• Notre Dame is “pretty close” to having everything installed defensively that they would like to do.
• The staff is still identifying who they want on the return units right now through drill work and will then move on to more unit work.   Kelly specifically mentioned potentially using Cole Luke and Devin Butler as gunners.
• Freshman Drue Tranquil could see action on all four special teams units just like James Onwualu did a year ago.   Speaking of Tranquil, he is staying at safety for now.
• Nyles Morgan is still overwhelmed with everything being thrown at him but his athleticism lets him make plays and his ability to run sideline to sideline has him ready to play a role.