Brian Kelly held an impromptu conference call with reporters this morning, likely hoping to clear his docket before Signing Day next week. While we’ll get into some of his explanation about his flirtation with the Philadelphia Eagles and his thoughts on the Manti Te’o hoax, he reveal a few interesting thoughts on some personnel decisions.
For those wondering what the future of the linebacker position looks like, Kelly strongly hinted that the plans for the spring and beyond include both Carlo Calabrese and Dan Fox. That’s pretty interesting news with scholarship numbers tight as the Irish head down the home stretch solidifying a recruiting class that could swell to 25 (or more).
Kelly announced that Fox and fellow defensive starter Bennett Jackson would be out for the spring with shoulder surgeries, each performed in the days following the BCS Championship game.
“We feel all of these guys that had the shoulder surgeries are going to be back for us,” Kelly said, when mentioning Fox, Jackson, and potentially some other undisclosed players. “They probably won’t participate for us in the spring, they’ll be in a non-contact situation, but we feel really good about the things we had to cleanup. We don’t see any long-term issues with any of our returning players.”
While Kelly wouldn’t commit to any returning fifth year players until the dust settles on Signing Day, he did talk about the battle to replace Manti Te’o at the ‘Mike’ linebacker position, singling out both fifth-year candidates and youngster Jarrett Grace.
“I think we’ve got three guys that are capable of playing inside that have a lot of experience,” Kelly said. I think you’ve got to throw Calabrese and Fox and Grace in as the front-runners to be involved in that inside linebacker position.
“As you know Kendall Moore has got some experience as well and we’ve got a host of young players that want to be included. That will be the fun part. Those three guys I would say lead right now.”
It’s hard to imagine Kelly not welcoming back two of the three players he’s considering frontrunners for two starting job, especially with both Calabrese and Fox working out with the team and prepping for next season.
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Also spending time with the team is Jamoris Slaughter, whose future with the team is still up in the air, as the university is appealing for a sixth-season of competition. Notre Dame’s compliance officer Jen Vining-Smith is on the case, though when Notre Dame hears is still unclear.
“We’re still in the process with the NCAA relative to his appeal for an additional season of competition. We’re hopeful that we’ll hear something before the conclusion of recruiting,” Kelly said. “Obviously it’s one of those things that everyone wants to know. I know I want to know, the media wants to know, certainly Jamoris wants to know. We just don’t have an answer at this point.”
With his teammates taking to Twitter to try and start #FreeSlaughter trending, one safety the Irish will certainly welcome back from a season-ending injury is Austin Collinsworth. After shoulder and back surgeries sidelined Collinsworth last season, expect to see Collinsworth make an appearance sometime this spring, though Kelly isn’t exactly sure of what the timeline will be just yet.
With Collinsworth back in the mix, you’ve got a guy that will potentially take Zeke Motta’s place as the quarterback of the secondary. While Matthias Farley certainly learned a ton this season as he was thrown into the fire, the staff is extremely high on Collinsworth’s ability, and the number of talented safeties on the roster will give the defense a lot of versatility.
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Lastly, it was some good news / bad news along the offensive line. Kelly feels optimistic about the future of Matt Hegarty, who suffered a mysterious ailment that was revealed to be a stroke over the media session down in Miami.
“We think we’re going to get clearance on him pretty soon,” Kelly said of Hegarty. “The procedure went extremely well. He’s adapting to the medication. We feel really confident there.”
On the flip-side of that coin is Tate Nichols, who has struggled with injuries since arriving on campus. The bruising 6-foot-8, 320-pound tackle might not be physically able to compete for the Irish, after a difficult knee injury took him off the field this season.
“Tate Nichols on the other hand is not as confident that he’ll be able to return to action,” Kelly said. “We’re in conversation about that being a medical situation with Tate.”
The loss of Nichols is a tough one, especially with his size and athleticism looking so promising for the Irish as they hoped to have a right tackle road-grader type. His absence will also make numbers awfully tight this spring, with the Irish down to possibly eight scholarship linemen until reinforcements come this summer.
If you’re looking for a hint on what the future holds for Nichols, check back after Signing Day. With so many top prospects still interested in the Irish, expect Notre Dame to accept a commitment now to replace Nichols scholarship next fall.
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One last battle to watch? Who replaces Braxston Cave at center. It appears that Kelly and offensive line coach Harry Hiestand are down to three candidates this spring, Hegarty, Nick Martin and redshirt freshman Mark Harrell.
“I think at the center position we’ve got to look at a couple of different options,” Kelly said. “Certainly Hegarty has had some experience there. We’re going to look at Martin. And I think Mark Harrell did a very nice job for us in the championship game preparation.
“Those three guys I think will get the first look at it in terms of the center position.”