At the end of the 2020 college football season, there comes a look at 2021. Everyone drops their “way too early” top 25 rankings (implying it is on time), so let’s first jump in the head about how the Irish can adapt to the season before.
They have already answered a few questions about Jack Coan, who used the popular transfer quarter, and hired the popular Marcus Freeman to coach the defense. These were the two biggest question marks on the way in 2021, and the answers were as good as they could possibly be.
The rest of the off-season will provide answers to the following: how does the offensive line shake off? What does the wide receiver chamber / rotation look like? Who comes on the corner of the corner? How things judge for themselves will ultimately tell the story for the Irish next season.
With that in mind, there are four ways Notre Dame needs to adapt offensively and defensively to make 2021 a successful year.
Reduce Kyren Williams’ workload
Kyren Williams was a breakout star for Notre Dame in 2020 as a runner, receiver and pass blocker. In his twelfth game season, he finished with the second-highest versatile meter of the Kelly era (1,438), and only finished in 2017 behind Josh Adams (1,531). In many ways he was the car behind the Notre Dame offense; despite his small size, he was able to run inside with force, break large plays and let us be blinded by his open field ability. That said, Notre Dame will have to reduce its workload in 2021 to get the best out of it late in the season.
Williams recorded 246 offensive tackles in 2020, averaging about 21 per game, a number that would have been even greater if he had not injured his shoulder in the first half against Boston College. The closest skill player was Chris Tyree with 81 tackles (about seven per game), with 17 coming against Boston College when Williams missed a good portion of the action. 21 to seven with running back is too big a difference. Williams’ size is what it is, and filling him up will only hamper his game. None of this takes into account the countless number of hits Williams has scored as the best pass rate.
Notre Dame must find a way to make the career position a real turnaround to a.) Keep his best players fresh b.) Get the best out of the position. They have Williams, they have their award winner Tyree, C’Bo Flemister has registered more than 110 times over his career, plus two freshmen coming in. Find two or three that can share the load over the course of a game. This is best for everyone involved.
Bring back the RPO game
My biggest takeaway from this playoff season was that Notre Dame had to bring their RPO offense back into the kraal. Alabama crushed us with short passes throughout, with 15 of their 25 completions ranging from 0-5 yards, with the LOS with more than 100 yards on three finishes that came from RPO concepts (two oblique and one swing pass).
Notre Dame was very adept with Ian Book in 2018, but mostly abandoned it in 2019 with Chip Long naming plays and again in 2020 with Tommy Rees. Given the strengths of Jack Coan’s game – quick release, good decision maker, accurate short – adding it to the offensive feels like a no-brainer. It also compliments the running game by discouraging running lightning, as an evacuating lineout only opens lanes for the passing game. The advantage of the strengths in offense is to bring back the thing you killed the previous year.
Make better use of Kyle Hamilton
Hamilton led the team with 63 tackles, despite missing two full games with his ankle injury, plus another half with a purposeful ejection. In fact, it was more than an 80+ tackle season from our free safety, and he was on course to lead the team with double figures in the attacks. It is also the first time that a defensive back has led the defense in the Kelly era.
Some of this has to do with Hamilton as a fantastic player. But it is also a sign that he has been asked to cover for deficits in the lineout corps. The three players who have earned considerable time at Buck this season – Marist Liufau, Shayne Simon and Jack Kiser – combined for 56 tackles in 2020. Hamilton scored 4.5 tackles for loss in nine and a half games, while the trio at Buck scored. 5.5. You get the idea.
Getting the best out of Hamilton includes correcting the Buck position so he does not have to be a cover for shortcomings. That’s a lot of what we saw with Jaylon Smith in 2015, not something Notre Dame wants to be associated with, as it’s seen as a waste of his talents. I imagine Marcus Freeman spends a lot of time thinking about ways to turn Hamilton into the game breaker that he can be clear on. He will be an All-American first team – he has lined up some first teams this season – and he will play a key role in why Notre Dame can make a return to the playoffs in 2021. They must make him a star.
Find the formula on the corner
Notre Dame has a short experience, but figures and skills in the secondary series. TaRiq Bracy and Clarence Lewis both played great minutes in high-level matches. Beyond them, there is athletics and length that simply need to be applied. Cam Hart and Ramon Henderson have length and speed. Caleb Offord, Ryan Barnes, Philip Riley and Chance Tucker include length, toughness and speed. There are raw materials that Notre Dame can use. They have their new coordinator and his partner Mike Mickens coaching the corners. Here are four players who can do the job at a level that matches a play-off caliber unit. My big prediction on this 12th afternoon is the corner band that will be blown up in 2021.