Quick-hitters: DC Al Golden on Notre Dame linebackers, secondary, spring progress
Defensive coordinator Al Golden is 11 practices into his first spring at Notre Dame. He has added to the Irish’s existing framework. He has brought tweaks and potential enhancements to situational defense. Players have routinely brought up his turnover-generating emphasis.
Nearly every day since Notre Dame hired him in mid-February – three days after coaching in the Super Bowl – has been spent getting to know players, meeting them and installing the defense. It’s as if his 2021 season hasn’t ended. He has had to learn about his personnel, his coworkers and his employer fast.
Golden offered some peeks into his process and observations during his final spring press conference Saturday. Here are some of the topics he addressed.
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On safety Brandon Joseph
“He has done a great job. He’s a hard worker. He has humbled himself because it had to start all over for him with learning a new system. That’s not easy to do. We’re very impressed with his transition. He’s bringing some maturity and leadership. As he gets more comfortable in the system, we’re hoping that continues to come on, because you can see glimpses of it.”
On what he’s learned about linebacker JD Bertrand despite limited availability (wrist)
“I loved watching him on film a year ago. He exhibits tremendous intelligence in meeting rooms. I can’t wait to work with him. He’s doing some seven-on-seven, not really the physical component. But really impressed with his makeup.
On where the linebacker group stands
“We’re not ready to set a depth chart right now. We’re trying to learn the concepts. We’re trying to see what our best groupings are and then move forward. We’re challenging the guys to learn the system and improve their technique. The depth chart and all that will sort itself out in July.”
On what he wants to see from now until the spring game
“We just finished some situations where we were operating like a game – signaling, substitution, things like that. We want to continue to do that. We need that as a staff and need that as a defense. That would be one thing I’d put near the top. We always want to improve, but if we can continue to improve our communication, substitution, eliminating mental errors and continue to take the ball away, those would be things I’d like us to focus on down the stretch.”
On freshman LB Junior Tuihalamaka
“It matters a lot to Junior. He really prepares. He askes questions. He comes in extra. You can tell football matters a lot to him and Notre Dame matters a lot to him. We’ve asked a lot of him. He’s made a lot of progress. He’s a big linebacker who can move. He’s physical inside. If we want to make him versatile and move him around, we can do that. He can learn quickly. We’re very impressed with him.”
On cornerback depth
“It’s a really good group. We’re working a lot of different combinations, so we’re not really to settle in. We miss Cam [Hart] right now. We miss [defensive tackle] Jayson [Ademilola]. We’re excited to get those guys back at some point. But as it relates to the cornerback position, we want to keep developing depth, make sure that group grows like everyone else and see if there’s some versatile pieces in there. That’s what we’re trying to explore right now.”
