With the end of the 2020 college football season reaching 2021. Everyone is abandoning their first 25 rankings “too soon” (which kind of implies that it is time), so let’s start with how Irish can adjust to the previous season.
They have already answered some questions by bringing undergraduate transfer quarterback Jack Coan and hired the highly sought after Marcus Freeman to train defense. These were the two biggest question marks in 2021 and the answers were the best they could be.
The rest of the off-season will provide answers to the following: how is the offensive line? How is the wide receiver room / rotation? Who is emerging in the cornerback? How these things are ultimately decided will tell the story for the Irish next season.
With that in mind, here are four ways Notre Dame needs to adjust offensively and defensively to make 2021 a successful year.
Reduce Kyren Williams’ workload
Kyren Williams was an emerging star for Notre Dame in 2020 as a runner, receiver and pass blocker. In his 12-game season, he ended up with the second largest multi-purpose yard of the Kelly era (1,438), second only to Josh Adams in 2017 (1,531). In many ways, he was the engine behind Notre Dame’s attack; despite his diminutive size, he was able to run hard inside, break big moves and dazzle us with his skill in the open. That said, Notre Dame will have to ease its workload by 2021 to get the best of it at the end of the season.
Williams recorded 246 offensive touches in 2020, an average of about 21 per game, a number that would have been even greater had he not injured his shoulder in the first half against Boston College. The next closest player was Chris Tyree with 81 hits in the attack (about seven per game), with 17 against Boston College, when Williams missed a good deal of the action. 21 to seven in the running back is a very big disparity. Williams’ size is what it is, and increasing it will only hinder your game. None of this takes into account the countless number of hits that Williams accumulated as the team’s best pass blocker as well.
Notre Dame needs to find a way to make the running back position a real spin for a.) Keep your best players up to date b.) Get the most out of the position. They have Williams, their award-winning recruit Tyree, C’Bo Flemister has recorded more than 110 touches over the course of his career, plus two freshmen arriving. Find two, or three, that can share the load during a game. It is better for everyone involved.
Bring the RPO game back
My biggest lesson from this playoff season was that Notre Dame needs to bring its RPO attack back into the fold. Alabama crushed us with short passes, with 15 of its 25 submissions occurring between 0-5 yards with LOS over 100 yards in three submissions from RPO concepts (two slants and a swing pass).
Notre Dame was very adept at this in 2018 with Ian Book, but left mainly in 2019 with Chip Long calling and again in 2020 with Tommy Rees. Given the strength of Jack Coan’s game – quick launch, good decision maker, precise short – adding that to the offensive seems like a no-brainer. It also complements the racing game by discouraging racing blitz, because an idle linebacker only opens up tracks for the passing game. Taking advantage of the attack’s strengths includes bringing back what killed him the previous year.
Make better use of Kyle Hamilton
Hamilton led the team with 63 tackles, despite having lost the equivalent of two complete games with his ankle injury, as well as another half with an ejection by sight. In fact, this was more like an 80+ tackle season of our free safety, and he was on his way to leading the team in double-digit tackles. It also marks the first time that a defensive back led defense in tackles during the Kelly era.
Part of that has to do with the fact that Hamilton is a fantastic player. But it is also a sign that he was asked to cover the defenses of the defense corps. The three players who have gained considerable time at Buck this season – Marista Liufau, Shayne Simon and Jack Kiser – combined 56 tackles in 2020. Hamilton totaled 4.5 tackles per loss in nine and a half games, while the trio at Buck scored 5.5. You got the idea.
Part of getting the most out of Hamilton includes fixing Buck’s position so he doesn’t have to be a cover for failures. This is a lot of what we saw with Jaylon Smith in 2015, not something Notre Dame wants to associate with, as this is seen as a waste of his talents. I imagine Marcus Freeman spends a lot of time thinking and planning ways to turn Hamilton into the game destroyer he can be. He will be a first-team All-American – he made a few first teams this season – and it will be an important part of why 2021 Notre Dame can return to the playoffs. They need to turn you into a star.
Find the formula in the corner
Notre Dame has little experience, but a lot of skill and skill in secondary school. TaRiq Bracy and Clarence Lewis played great minutes in high level games. Besides them, there are athletics and length that simply need to be used. Cam Hart and Ramon Henderson have length and speed. Caleb Offord, Ryan Barnes, Philip Riley and Chance Tucker include length, endurance and speed. There are raw materials that Notre Dame can take advantage of. They have their new coordinator and their friend Mike Mickens training the songs. There are four players here who can do the job at a level befitting a playoff gauge unit. My big prediction this afternoon on January 12 is for the corner group to explode in 2021.