Quick-hitters: Notre Dame CB coach Mike Mickens on Benjamin Morrison, WR Lorenzo Styles cross-training
Notre Dame cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens met with reporters Tuesday for his lone spring practice press conference. Here are some topics he discussed.
On how Lorenzo Styles cross-training at cornerback was presented to him
“I always knew he was a very good athlete since he first got here, seeing him move around. When I look at receivers, I can kind of see if that guy can play on the other side of the ball. It’s mental. He wants to help the team and be a great football player. He wanted to come over, dabble in the corner world. He’s growing every day.”
On the nickel back contenders
“[Clarence Lewis] is there. He played a lot of it toward the end of last season. He’s very dependable. He’s having a great spring and doing a great job with it. That’s what you love about that. You have a veteran guy who understands the system and what we want him to do. We have him there. [Thomas Harper] has come over. That’s a great thing that we have two guys who can really grow at that position and help us in the fall.”
On the Notre Dame cornerback ‘Deny my man’ motto
“Deny my man. We use that in a way of if it’s man, deny your man. If you’re in zone, deny your man the zone. Off the field, if it’s a paper, deny your man and get it done. You just want to make good choices, find a way to get it done no matter what. No excuses, get the job done. We take that motto every day, along with our creed of playing with great effort, playing fast and being violent. We do those things every day. That’s the standard in our room.”
On the teaching points for Benjamin Morrison after his standout freshman year
“All the details. It’s still a detail deal. Corner is so technical that you always want to grow detail-wise, release-wise, route recognition-wise, things of that nature. That’s what we’ve been focusing on. He understands that’s the expectation. He’s a very competitive kid, a very mature kid. He’s doing all the work on the field, but he’s coming in off the field just like last year to continue to grow. That’s the great thing about him.”
On Jaden Mickey keeping his trust through freshman growing pains last fall
“How I look at it and how I approach corners is that it’s a bumpy road. You’re going to have adversity at some point in time, no matter who you are. You’re going to get beat. It’s how you respond to it. I have the most confidence in him. He’s a mature kid. He comes to work every day on the field, off the field, studies. It’s growing through that and understanding why that happened, and then keep growing from there. He didn’t lose his ability or anything. It’s a bumpy road.”
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On his communication with June enrollee Micah Bell
“We do some meetings over the phone. He understands that when he comes up, he has to be able to fit in, understand some of the defense already. He’s going to be fine. We’ll hit the ground running. He’s fast. But he’ll be good.”
On junior Ryan Barnes’ spring and his usage
“He plays both sides. He’s a guy that has to know all the positions just because of the depth at safety, the depth at nickel right now. We use him a lot as a utility guy because he’s long. That’s what we like about him. Because of his length, he can cause disruptions at safety, at corner, at nickel. Boundary corner is what he’s doing corner-wise. He will be on the boundary because he’s so long to get around.”
On freshman Christian Gray’s spring and developing while recovering from a knee scope
“He’s doing good. He’s going to attack it mentally. That’s the great thing about it with him is just because he’s hurt doesn’t mean he can’t grow mentally. That’s what he’s doing. He’s doing extra meetings, doing it that way. He has to attack rehab. It’s a setback, but come back stronger from it, and he will. He had a good spring, obviously did seven practices and grew from practice one through seven, which is encouraging. I’m excited for him in the fall.”
