Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden spoke to writers for 16 minutes following Friday's practice, the third of preseason camp. Here's a transcript of the conversation that's been lightly edited for clarity. Questions may be paraphrased.
AL GOLDEN
JD Bertrand, Marist Liufau and Jack Kiser: that’s as knowledgeable a LB trio as you can get, isn’t it?
“Sure is. It’s a blessing to work with them. I know Max [Bullough] feels the same way. Coach [Mike] Moon feels the same way. You can challenge them every day, not just in terms of the assignments and alignments but also to improve their technique. All of them have done that. Marist, we’ve been challenging him in zone coverage. Because we know he can rush the passer and we use him to do that a lot on third down. But just to be a better zone player, and he’s really responded. He’s gotten better. Just one example, but it’s a very mature group. When you’re not telling them where to align and what their assignment is, then you can really drill down. That’s the biggest difference. The NFL, you’re drilling down constantly because most of those guys come ready. They know if you don’t know the assignment, you’re gone.”
Have Liufau and Kiser flipped roles?
“No, they’re all interchangeable. They have different roles whether it’s base, nickel or third down. So they all have different roles based on that.”
But is Liufau playing more outside as opposed to last year?
“I don’t know if that’s true. Maybe because of where we are in the installs you’re seeing that.”
But they’re flexible enough to move them around?
“No doubt. I don’t even ask anymore. They’ll sometimes do it by themselves. I don’t worry. I want them to make sure they’re comfortable in it, that we can handle it. Now the younger guys, we kind of slot. We’ll slot them, so if the opportunity arises where we need them to start, they know exactly what to do and how to do it.”
Who is emerging among the young guys?
“There’s three groups. Clearly Zig [Nolan Ziegler] and [Jaylen] Sneed in the spring were like, ‘Let’s go.’ I know they’ve been dinged up a little bit. Those questions are for the head coach. It was good to get Sneed back out there today, because I was like, ‘Whoa, OK. Now he’s where he was in the spring.’ Those guys are right there. To us, it’s not like the starters. It’s who’s playing? Who’s going in the game? So those guys are going in the game. And then you have the freshmen that are fighting to be in that group. I’m pleased with them as well. Hopefully we’ll just keep improving and we’ll have three levels of depth.”
Where would you like to see Sneed settle in?
“He’s the rover in base. He’s natural at that. He’s the will in our 4-2 nickel. Then he has the ability to pressure or to line up on the edge on third down. That’s really what he does. We’re trying to get him going in those things, and really at the end of the year that’s what he did for us. It was awesome.”
What does the challenge from Freeman to get more reps for young reserves look like to you?
“Sometimes the guys are like, ‘Well how come I’m not out there?’ You always have to tell them the why. It’s a long season, and I talk to you guys all the time about vertical and horizontal depth. Vertical depth, yeah, we want to have two deep. But we also need horizontal depth. We need defensive linemen that can play a 3-technique or an end. We need linebackers that can play different spots. Thank goodness for guys like Harp [Thomas Harper] and C-Lew [Clarence Lewis] that can play nickel safety, nickel corner. We have to build depth, because you can’t take 100 guys on the road. That’s one thing. The other thing is just we are preparing for those moments. We don’t want it just to be Rylie [Mills] talking to Howard [Cross III] all the time. We need Rylie talking to Jason [Onye]. We need Howard talking to Gabe [Rubio]. I can go on down the line. We have to make sure that we’re really strong no matter who is in the game at a certain point in the game, if there’s an injury that has occurred or if you have an extended period of time where you had some attrition.”
What have you seen from the vyper candidates?
“I think you guys know how I feel about Fosk [Isaiah Foskey]. I love him, love his family. But I think the biggest thing is these guys have made us excited about them. That’s probably the best way to say it. You can dwell on the loss or you can turn your attention to, ‘OK, let’s see what these guys do.’ Jordan Botelho in the 260s now. When I first got here, I think he was transitioning from a 215-pound rover. You guys that have been around probably know better. 260s now. What Junior [Tuihalamaka] has done. You’ve got [Joshua] Burnham. And obviously we’re working some of the younger guys, Boubacar [Traore] and those guys. What they’re doing excites us. I know a guy that’s off the beaten path who’s made so much progress is Josh Burnham. Just physically and the commitment that he’s made. We’re excited about his progress.”
Burnham’s had a full year to transitioned, right?
“Yeah. You ever see him, though? That is a physically great-looking kid. And now he’s in the (2)50s and he’s still lean and can run. He can play some end. He can play some vyper. So that’s exciting.”
(more)
AL GOLDEN
JD Bertrand, Marist Liufau and Jack Kiser: that’s as knowledgeable a LB trio as you can get, isn’t it?
“Sure is. It’s a blessing to work with them. I know Max [Bullough] feels the same way. Coach [Mike] Moon feels the same way. You can challenge them every day, not just in terms of the assignments and alignments but also to improve their technique. All of them have done that. Marist, we’ve been challenging him in zone coverage. Because we know he can rush the passer and we use him to do that a lot on third down. But just to be a better zone player, and he’s really responded. He’s gotten better. Just one example, but it’s a very mature group. When you’re not telling them where to align and what their assignment is, then you can really drill down. That’s the biggest difference. The NFL, you’re drilling down constantly because most of those guys come ready. They know if you don’t know the assignment, you’re gone.”
Have Liufau and Kiser flipped roles?
“No, they’re all interchangeable. They have different roles whether it’s base, nickel or third down. So they all have different roles based on that.”
But is Liufau playing more outside as opposed to last year?
“I don’t know if that’s true. Maybe because of where we are in the installs you’re seeing that.”
But they’re flexible enough to move them around?
“No doubt. I don’t even ask anymore. They’ll sometimes do it by themselves. I don’t worry. I want them to make sure they’re comfortable in it, that we can handle it. Now the younger guys, we kind of slot. We’ll slot them, so if the opportunity arises where we need them to start, they know exactly what to do and how to do it.”
Who is emerging among the young guys?
“There’s three groups. Clearly Zig [Nolan Ziegler] and [Jaylen] Sneed in the spring were like, ‘Let’s go.’ I know they’ve been dinged up a little bit. Those questions are for the head coach. It was good to get Sneed back out there today, because I was like, ‘Whoa, OK. Now he’s where he was in the spring.’ Those guys are right there. To us, it’s not like the starters. It’s who’s playing? Who’s going in the game? So those guys are going in the game. And then you have the freshmen that are fighting to be in that group. I’m pleased with them as well. Hopefully we’ll just keep improving and we’ll have three levels of depth.”
Where would you like to see Sneed settle in?
“He’s the rover in base. He’s natural at that. He’s the will in our 4-2 nickel. Then he has the ability to pressure or to line up on the edge on third down. That’s really what he does. We’re trying to get him going in those things, and really at the end of the year that’s what he did for us. It was awesome.”
What does the challenge from Freeman to get more reps for young reserves look like to you?
“Sometimes the guys are like, ‘Well how come I’m not out there?’ You always have to tell them the why. It’s a long season, and I talk to you guys all the time about vertical and horizontal depth. Vertical depth, yeah, we want to have two deep. But we also need horizontal depth. We need defensive linemen that can play a 3-technique or an end. We need linebackers that can play different spots. Thank goodness for guys like Harp [Thomas Harper] and C-Lew [Clarence Lewis] that can play nickel safety, nickel corner. We have to build depth, because you can’t take 100 guys on the road. That’s one thing. The other thing is just we are preparing for those moments. We don’t want it just to be Rylie [Mills] talking to Howard [Cross III] all the time. We need Rylie talking to Jason [Onye]. We need Howard talking to Gabe [Rubio]. I can go on down the line. We have to make sure that we’re really strong no matter who is in the game at a certain point in the game, if there’s an injury that has occurred or if you have an extended period of time where you had some attrition.”
What have you seen from the vyper candidates?
“I think you guys know how I feel about Fosk [Isaiah Foskey]. I love him, love his family. But I think the biggest thing is these guys have made us excited about them. That’s probably the best way to say it. You can dwell on the loss or you can turn your attention to, ‘OK, let’s see what these guys do.’ Jordan Botelho in the 260s now. When I first got here, I think he was transitioning from a 215-pound rover. You guys that have been around probably know better. 260s now. What Junior [Tuihalamaka] has done. You’ve got [Joshua] Burnham. And obviously we’re working some of the younger guys, Boubacar [Traore] and those guys. What they’re doing excites us. I know a guy that’s off the beaten path who’s made so much progress is Josh Burnham. Just physically and the commitment that he’s made. We’re excited about his progress.”
Burnham’s had a full year to transitioned, right?
“Yeah. You ever see him, though? That is a physically great-looking kid. And now he’s in the (2)50s and he’s still lean and can run. He can play some end. He can play some vyper. So that’s exciting.”
(more)
