Graduate senior long snapper Michael Vinson discusses his personal goals for preseason camp, overcoming the challenge of working with new specialists, how he helps others transition into the Notre Dame football program, how his approach changes as a camp veteran, his relationship with special teams coordinator Marty Biagi and what Biagi emphasizes.

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Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi spoke to local beat writers after Thursday's practice on campus. Here's a transcript of that interview session. The questions may be paraphrased.

MARTY BIAGI

Have you been able to identify a core of special teams contributors for coverage/return, etc.?

“Yes, we have. We feel like we’re in a good spot — there are some young guys, and I’m not going to be able to remember all of them which is a great problem to have. Anytime you have great leadership at the linebacker position with Coach Golden, Coach Bullough, veteran guys, guys like Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry are guys that we're expecting to step in and help us. Thomas Harper has come on come in and done a great job. [Clarence] Lewis, C-Lew, has done a great job. And then there's some young guys, Rico Flores and [Jaden] Greathouse are guys that hey, if coach gives us the green light to play them, we want to get them active in situations.”

How do you identify freshman wide receivers —as opposed to typical safeties and corners — for these types of roles?

I think it helped that they were here this spring to be able — because they know offense, they know ball. Because as an incoming freshman, it's really so many situations, it’s not so much ‘Hey, can you just line up a gunner?’ You have to learn all the offensive playbook or even defensive playbook, but there's so many special teams situations that you only get limited time to cover. And so you're looking for those guys that are locked in in meetings and aren’t making the same mistake twice, or understanding ‘Hey, if we’re working on a pooch punt, you know you have to get to the goal line and turn back,’ as opposed to they do it once, and then they don't learn from it. When it's a younger guy, you're looking to see can they make the adjustment quickly with a sense of urgency?”

What kind of conversations do you have to have with Marcus Freeman about playing a freshman primarily on special teams that may be in line for a redshirt?

“If it’s somebody that’s going to play, in my opinion and talking with coach — if they're going to be a reliable 3-4, what we call a core four starter, they're going to play. Because it's enough snaps if you went back to chart it that it's a viable option. We don't want to put somebody out there that only plays 14 snaps a year. What happens is it might be they start out on only one or two, you start to hit game six, either because they injuries just because of their progressing, and now they're on three or four by the end of the season. The head coach always has the final say, but we kind of look, and start to by the end of this next block, identify, OK, we feel like we need to get this guy in the game and see. Then you can always use that four-short window to decide. They don't have to play all at the beginning. The four-game guys. You might see him for one or two [games] and then hold for a little bit. That's something that we'll get into after this scrimmage.”

What you've seen in camp from kicker Spencer Shrader?

"More than anything just a mental toughness. I know that word gets thrown around a lot. What's very exciting about Spencer also playing competitive international soccer and having a mindset where you have to perform on penalty kicks or clutch kicks, it's something that he's already used to doing. With his presence and playing already now in college football games, it's really just trying to finetune. We're working a couple different things on his technique. Really we want a clean ball path. People always ask, 'Oh, what's a kicker's range?' To me, it doesn't matter what his range is if he's not consistent from that range. Knowing that we can consistently hit that really good ball and then knowing where our landmark is is what we're excited about. He's had a great camp."

It has to be a nice comfort level with Michael Vinson’s experience at long snapper, right?

“It is. He's a captain in the locker room, whether he's voted one I don't know. He has that presence. He loves this university. He loves this program. If you say, ‘Milk, go hold the chains,’ he’ll do it. No job is too small. That's just an exciting thing to have two veteran guys between he and Spencer. They really make sure there's no egos in the room. He has a lot of potential to even get better this year. He's been very consistent. That's the thing: hopefully you all never have to call his name. It’s hard, because he deserves a lot of praise that goes unnoticed. That's what the role of a long snapper is. We embrace him for that.”

How close to making a punter decision?

“Right now, Bryce is going to be our starting punter going in. He’s earned that. He’s competed in camp. He’s done really well. This spring I wanted him to prove that he can be more consistent and even challenged him after the spring game. He had a really good spring and then performed in the spring game not to the level that was the right standard. We used it as a learning experience. These are elements that you’re going to have to deal with. No excuses and practice those things. He’s come out and done really well from a consistency standpoint. Everybody wants to see the high, long ball. But what we care about is our operation time and our hang time. If you can consistently have a low op time and then get that hang time to where we want, we feel like that unit can also be an aggressive unit. An attacking, flip-the-field-type unit.”

Do you prefer to have punters/kickers who are athletes?

“Yes. We’re always looking for an athlete first. Even long snapping. We’re looking for anybody that portrays those different athletes, plays a different sport, that’s huge. They can carry over some of that. Like Bryce’s wrestling background and his track background. He’s able to actually use some of his technique in his jumping that would allow him to work on his finish and his hang time. That’s what we’re really finetuning is shorter steps so we can get more hang time on the ball.”

What's the competition looking like with Shrader and Yoakam for kickoffs?

"They definitely both will be competing in that regard. Spencer, right now, would be our starting kickoff guy. With that just from a leg-strength standpoint. It's just a perfect point that any point that the two has to be ready to step right in." He was alluding to the fact that Yoakam had to fill in right before the season opener last year in that last sentence.

Does Shrader’s ability to get touchbacks routinely on kickoffs become the weekly game plan?

“Could be. It just depends on the game plan. To know that’s in the bag as an asset, absolutely. I don’t want to belittle your question, but we don’t want to sit there and assume. We're going to do what's best for Notre Dame that week. So if there's a game plan, that there's something that we need to do to help us or we think we can get a competitive advantage by kicking the ball up to the two-yard line and going to cover and trying to pin him in. We're going to look at that.”

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@RivalsFriedman also likes where Notre Dame's sitting with 2025 safety target Ethan Long.


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The New Orleans Saints are hosting former Notre Dame LB Jaylon Smith for a workout on Thursday.

Also mentioned that he worked out for the Las Vegas Raiders last week.

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Thanks to all who submitted questions for me and @Eric Hansen on our latest podcast. These are the questions we answered with timestamps.

22:07 • Marie Biafore - @biafore_marie: Based on what you’ve seen at camp so far, are your expectations for this team, higher or lower than they were at the start of camp and why?

24:20 • @sjb75: With less than three weeks until game 1, and considering, IMO, the tough schedule this team plays, name the # 1 aspect about this team that concerns you the most?

25:36 • @MikeDevoy1: There’s been a lot of talk about the backups/competition at OT and OG. What about C? We know Zeke is the starter but how good is his backup? After Patterson went down 2 yrs ago, we had some growing pains as I recall.

28:23 • Robert Halicky - @bhalicky5859: I got a fever, a camp fever and the only prescription is more camp and insider access. Similar to my question from last week. Who leads TEs in TD catches, total catches and total yards?

31:12 • @CharlesWWolfe: Please fill in the blanks for offense and defense: “if I see _____ happen this fall, I’ll be encouraged by the progress under Marcus Freeman Year 2”

32:44 • @Irons50: Will Nolan Zeigler be apart of this team this season? If not is Drayk Bowen ready to step into that spot?

@Eric Hansen and I will go live on YouTube on Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT for the next edition of "Football Never Sleeps."

We'll share our observations from Tuesday's open practice, discuss whether the defensive performance is worth getting excited about and whether there's reason to worry about the offense, examine Notre Dame's biggest remaining uncertainties and answer questions from viewers.

We hope you join us live with questions or submit some ahead of time. Hit the bell to set a reminder to get notified when we go live.

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If you'd like to submit questions, make sure you click through so you're watching on YouTube's site or in the YouTube app if you're on mobile. You can do so by clicking the headline at the top of the embedded video above. So where it says "Football Never Sleeps: ..." Or there should be spot that says "Watch on YouTube" in the bottom left.

Then to submit questions, there's a chat box to the right of the video on desktop or below the video on mobile.

Click here to subscribe to Inside ND Sports on YouTube.

Notre Dame graduate student kicker Spencer Shrader pursued a professional soccer career after high school. Now, after four seasons at South Florida, he's ready to experience Notre Dame — on and off the field.

I have 2 tickets for the game. If interested email me
bfa1378@icloud.com

With the super conferences looking like they are going to happen there’s a chance that it may force ND’s hand.

Do you think it’s time to join a conference and which conference would you want to join

Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison was named as one of 35 players on the preseason watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award, which recognizes the best defensive back in college football.

Notre Dame linebackers JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau were named to the 51-player preseason watch list for the Butkus Award, which recognizes the best linebacker in college football.

I think you're probably more surprised by one list more than the other.

Watch LIst Watch:

Notre Dame football held its 13th preseason camp practice on Thursday, Aug. 10. Watch the top two units on offense and defense run through plays and Irish defensive linemen, wide receivers and cornerbacks work through drills during the first five periods of practice.

Players featured include quarterbacks Sam Hartman and Steve Angeli, running backs Devyn Ford and Jadarian Price, wide receivers Jayden Thomas, Tobias Merriweather and Braylon James, linebackers Marist Liufau and JD Bertrand, cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Thomas Harper and more.

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Inside ND Sports' Notre Dame football training camp depth chart projection​

I updated the depth chart after Tuesday night's practice. The shifts are more subtle than seismic. I'll update it further after getting clarification from Marcus Freeman on Saturday. We always have the link pinned in the sticky post area. It's also easily available in the dropdown menu under football on both the home page and the top of this page.

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I just got off the phone with Notre Dame 2025 defensive end target Damien Shanklin. The Irish offered the 6-foot-5, 225-pound defender on Wednesday.

Shanklin, a three-star according to Rivals, attends Indianapolis (Ind.) Warren Central, the same program that produced former Irish defensive tackle Sheldon Day.

Defensive line coach Al Washington called Shanklin after school letting him know he had an offer. Shanklin said he thought he had his best practice of the preseason because he was so excited about his Irish offer.

"He really didn't say much but on the phone but I just can tell that he's a good coach and he's one of the coaches that would be there for me on and off the field," Shanklin told Inside ND Sports. "He seemed like a very good coach. When I was talking to him, he wanted to get that connection with me and that bond to be bigger than it what it is now. He told me on the phone [that] he sees something in me and I was just sitting there smiling."

As a sophomore, Shanklin had 32 tackles including five for loss. He also registered three sacks. He is the No. 20 weakside defensive end and No. 4 player in Indiana for the 2025 recruiting class.

Heading into his junior season, Shanklin reports 14 total offers including Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Iowa, Louisville Missouri, Purdue and USC. He visited Iowa and Louisville this spring and took trips to Indiana and Purdue earlier in the year. He told me Washington discussed getting him up for a Notre Dame game day visit this season.

"It's big to me because out of all the schools that I do have offers from, Notre Dame offered me and that's a good academic school," Shanklin said. "Thinking about that, I got a chance to do what I do best. Academics will always be No. 1 and then football second."

Shanklin said he took summer classes in June and July and plans to graduate early in December 2024.

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https://www.sportico.com/business/f...morgan-private-equity-funding-acc-1234733152/

Wow... it was only a matter of time I suppose.

This I believe would mark the first DIRECT investment from PE into a university for the benefit of its athletics dept.

If they can get figure out the for profit vs. non-profit conflict then the flood gates will really start to open.

For the first time, Rivals has created its own ranking system to combine recruiting class and transfer portal hauls. Rivals is calling it the Comprehensive Team Rankings and unveiled the results for the 2023 cycle on Tuesday.

Rivals ranked Notre Dame at No. 10 overall in its Comprehensive Team Rankings for 2023.

More details and links here:

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Watch List Watch: Doak Walker Award has eye on Notre Dame RB Audric Estimé​

Chat Transcript: The state of the Notre Dame Football O-line and D-line​

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Notre Dame men’s basketball 2024 power forward target Garrett Sundra plans to announce his commitment on Thursday at 1 p.m.

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Sundra, a three-star according to Rivals, is down to Notre Dame, Butler, Miami (Fla.), Providence and Virginia Tech.

The 6-foot-10, 200-pound recruit attends Fairfax (Va.) Paul VI and took his official visit to Notre Dame last week.

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Live Chat: Talk Notre Dame Football with Eric Hansen​

Shortcut to the question queue: https://live.jotcast.com/chat/notre-dame-football-live-chat-august-9-2023-16272.html

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Was a member of the Notre Dame 1973 national championship team and an assistant coach on the 1977 national title squad. Has been AD at Ohio State since 2005.

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Midwest Spotlight: Five underclassmen under the microscope this fall​

From Rivals national analyst Clint Cosgrove ... Some Notre Dame targets and leans included.