'11 NC WR/CB Matthias Farley (Signed Notre Dame LOI)

[ResLife Hero]

IrishIllustrated.com - New system, new position

Matthias Farley’s 2013 stats mirror his 2012 stats, yet public perception derided his junior season performance after a praiseworthy sophomore season. Both saw the then-safety play in 13 games and make 49 tackles.

The difference in opinion was a result of Farley’s role and varied successes in that role.

In 2012, he lined up alongside senior safety Zeke Motta, and a large portion of the credit for the secondary’s consistent performance went to Motta. In 2013, Farley served as the secondary’s quarterback and thus endured more criticism for the secondary’s mishaps.

As Farley added missed tackles to miscommunications, those criticisms grew louder -- perhaps loudest after Michigan’s first touchdown in the second game of the season - when a 61-yard pass from Devin Gardner to Jeremy Gallon, in which multiple Irish defenders failed to tackle Gallon, included Farley struggling to get a hand on the receiver.

“We were trying to get him to replace Zeke Motta and Harrison Smith, two pretty good players and two physical players,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said following the spring’s first practice. “He’s not that kind of player. So he kind of got that tag of he’s not as physical as them. Well, that’s not his best trait.”

By mid-season, Farley was replaced in the starting lineup for three games. Then he found himself coming off the bench in the Pinstripe Bowl as freshman Max Redfield joined senior Austin Collinsworth as the defense’s last line.

“It was a combination of a lot of things,” Farley said. “I was asked to do a lot. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t necessarily prepared for it, but there had been fifth-year guys, fourth-year guys who had been in the system for a long time in those roles. It was a big jump from playing my first year in 2012 to having all that on my plate in 2013.”

In 2014, Farley will once again have a lot on his plate, now due to the second position switch of his college career. The North Carolina native served as a scout team receiver his freshman season before moving to safety in 2012. When newly-hired defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder came to South Bend, discussion began regarding moving Farley to cornerback.

“The conversation started several weeks ago, just here and there, nothing nailed down,” Farley said. “Then it was official last week. I’m really excited about it.

“It’s a new system, it’s a fresh start, so why not change positions?”

Farley began working on the adjustments as soon as the tentative conversations began. VanGorder mentioned the possibility -- based on what the former New York Jets linebacker coach had seen on film -- and Farley immediately began seeking the advice of cornerbacks he has worked with closely.

“Me and (junior-to-be cornerback) KeiVarae (Russell) have been working a lot after workouts, doing footwork and stuff,” Farley said. “He’s been very, very helpful. I talked to (former Irish cornerback) Bennett Jackson. He’s one of my best friends. We’ve had a couple conversations. Everyone’s really, really positive. It’s already helped me a ton with the transition.”

The early mental preparation should serve to complement Farley’s physical skills as VanGorder and Kelly see them. Rather than have Farley battle a deep safety depth chart and play inside-out, Kelly wants to see his outside-in abilities.

“He can be a very good player, and especially a tackler, from an outside-in position,” Kelly said. “We think he can be a very good force player from an outside-in position, and he’s a really good athlete. He can run and he has very good ball skills. We’re going to give him an opportunity out there to compete. We’re going to play more than two corners. We’re going to play as many as four.”

In the first spring practice Monday, Farley joined the second-team base unit and the first-team nickel unit alongside safeties Max Redfield and Austin Collinsworth and cornerbacks Russell and Cole Luke.

“He’s going to play more than corner,” Kelly said. “He’s going to have a chance to play some nickel for us, some corner. I think he’s going to be involved in what we do defensively. I think the rule is you have to be determined.”

If Farley’s excitement is indicative of his determination, that rule should not be a problem.

“I’m excited. It’s a new system. It’s a new everything,” Farley said. “When I have a fresh start, I feel like that’s been the storyline of my career -- adapting to new situations. I’m really excited about it. I think it will probably fit my skill set better. I’m really looking forward to it.”

 

[wizards8507]

IrishIllustrated.com - New system, new position

There's a LOT of coach speak in that article.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I read what Kelly is saying as: Farley is a physical tackler and the issue is, can he get into proper position to make a clean hit? That what I hear when Coach says that he's better Outside-in [i.e. he's physical enough to hold the edge then discard and strike], but not so hot inside-out [i.e. fast-angling in wide-open spaces so as to get the right line.]

... admittedly, I'm intuiting on that, but I think that Coach tells us a lot most of the time, if we listen to what he chooses to say [the coach-speak], and then mostly disregard that to meditate on what he DIDN'T say about a player [or a coach]. {as to the latter, I found his comments on Diaco and Van Gorder VERY interesting. He was very praising of both, but when talking of Coach Van Gorder said: he has the experience to take the defense to the next level. Kelly knew....}

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I read what Kelly is saying as: Farley is a physical tackler and the issue is, can he get into proper position to make a clean hit? That what I hear when Coach says that he's better Outside-in [i.e. he's physical enough to hold the edge then discard and strike], but not so hot inside-out [i.e. fast-angling in wide-open spaces so as to get the right line.]

... admittedly, I'm intuiting on that, but I think that Coach tells us a lot most of the time, if we listen to what he chooses to say [the coach-speak], and then mostly disregard that to meditate on what he DIDN'T say about a player [or a coach]. {as to the latter, I found his comments on Diaco and Van Gorder VERY interesting. He was very praising of both, but when talking of Coach Van Gorder said: he has the experience to take the defense to the next level. Kelly knew....}

Exactly!

I am impressed that he kept it positive, and made it clear!

 

[CanadalovesND]

http://watchnd.tv/#!/videos/BiZDEybDpI_qxb9gq4PgJFDccUlZpVEN

Pretty cool video about Matthias and his tattoo's. Very telling of his roots in his depicted tats.

 

[Redbar]

Yes very interesting piece. I am not surprised at all but it is still very impressive to see just how thoughtful and articulate a young man he is when talking about his life and story and reasons. You listen to that piece and you understand what Coach Kelly means when he says we are shopping down a different aisle. The place is special, hallowed ground in my opinion, but the real magic is in the people that make up and are drawn to the University and what it represents.

 

[Cackalacky]

Good stuff.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Props to Farley. He made me eat my words and it looks like he's hardly the problem in our secondary. We are in trouble if we don't get better communication with our safeties.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Yeah, after his interception, you could see the fire in his eyes, and his gesture; a lot of people should be eating their words. He hit just like he did in '12 before he broke his hand.

 

[yankeeND]

Yeah, after his interception, you could see the fire in his eyes, and his gesture; a lot of people should be eating their words. He hit just like he did in '12 before he broke his hand.

Very proud of his performance yesterday! He played like a veteran and gave the defense a nice little spark. Happy for him.

 

[IrishLax]

Apparently... according to people at ISD... the bust one the Rice TD was on Farley not Shumate. I don't know if anyone will ever know for sure.

The bust on the crossing play before that which went for big yards was also apparently on Farley.

Outside of those two plays, I thought he was excellent.

 

[jimmymac]

Apparently... according to people at ISD... the bust one the Rice TD was on Farley not Shumate. I don't know if anyone will ever know for sure.

The bust on the crossing play before that which went for big yards was also apparently on Farley.

Outside of those two plays, I thought he was excellent.

This. Made a few mistakes, but was all over the field making plays.

 

[ndfi78]

Apparently... according to people at ISD... the bust one the Rice TD was on Farley not Shumate. I don't know if anyone will ever know for sure.

The bust on the crossing play before that which went for big yards was also apparently on Farley.

Outside of those two plays, I thought he was excellent.

According to II it was Shumate so... who knows besides the coaches.

EDIT: this is based on tweets, so I don't know if there was any follow up on that thought.

 

[IrishLax]

According to II it was Shumate so... who knows besides the coaches.

EDIT: this is based on tweets, so I don't know if there was any follow up on that thought.

ISD broke down why it was Farley... who missed a change in the call... and why Farley got chewed out about it. This was after the game on their radio show.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Point is that he tackled and ran well.

I really can't blame him if he missed the call because that whole defensive back end was so discombobulated with the last minute Collinsworth injury. There are no excuses for next week however.

 

[ulukinatme]

Farley's INT right before the end of the first half was a big momentum changer. We were able to pick up the quick score afterwards, and we never looked back from that point. I gave him some guff last year, probably rightfully so, but players deserve second chances, especially if he was injured last season.

 

[dublinirish]

i always felt farley's best attributes were displayed when he played in the box and and was asked to blitz. If only he could have bulked up more he would be perfect for the SAM position in this scheme

 

[BGIF]

Strange that Kelly didn't mention it in either PC.

Strange that Kelly didn't mention it in either PC.

Coach Kelly Press Conference Transcript - UND.COM - University of Notre Dame Official Athletic Site

Q. You indicated yesterday some communication problems on the back end of the defense with the safeties. Any additional thoughts on the safety play after seeing the film?
COACH KELLY: Yeah, I mean, I think Austin had been obviously a great communicator back there. Then with Elijah and Max back there, we needed somebody to pick it up. Neither one of those guys picked up the slack. Need to be better.
So we'll get at it right away. Whatever we have to do, we'll get it better back there between those two guys, making sure that they communicate better. Even if we got to get them in film study, signaling everything during watching film, we've got to get these guys communicating better back there.

Q. I know this is a hypothetical, but if you were to get KeiVarae Russell back this week, would Cody Riggs possibly be an option at safety?
COACH KELLY: No, no. He would not. He'd still play corner. It would give us a lot more flexibility in our nickel package.

Q. Is Farley too important to your nickel package to move him to safety on a full time basis?
COACH KELLY: No, not necessarily. We just think with Shumate and Max, we just got to get them communicating. We like their skill set. We think they're the two best players back there.
Again, we got into a very unique situation where we had 24 hours really to get them communicating more effectively. We gave up five explosive plays, four passes, three of them directly related to poor communication.
We can get that corrected. Both those guys are the kind of skill players we want back there. We have to address that issue, which we will this week.

Q. Flipping sides, Cole Luke made his first start and Matthias Farley started in a new position. Talk about their efforts.
COACH KELLY: Yeah, I liked Cole's presence. He didn't seem to be affected by his first start. I thought he played with confidence. Really liked just his demeanor. I think that's really big at that position. That stood out to me.

Matthias is a guy that can do a lot of jobs for us. He's a valuable player for us. He continues to do that. Had the interception right before the half. It was a big picture. He's a guy that does a lot of jobs for us. He's outstanding in special teams, as well.


Q. Did he need a boost of confidence early or is that something that wasn't really relevant?
COACH KELLY: Matthias or Cole?

Q. Matthias.
COACH KELLY: I think everybody needs a little bit of boost. But he's a guy that has a lot of pride in his work, in his craft.

But I would say for him it's more about whatever he can do for the team more so than him needing a boost of confidence.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

So you're saying it would have been helpful if I read his entire post, not just the first sentence. Good lord, the details around here. Hand to Forehead walking away...

"Its not your fathers Irish Envy anymore!"

Mike Mayock, 8/30/14


Com'mon, Keith!

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Coach Kelly Press Conference Transcript - UND.COM - University of Notre Dame Official Athletic Site

http://www.irishenvy.com/forums/notre-dame-football/204873-pat-eilers-joins-irish-staff.html

 

[Domina Nostra]

This. Made a few mistakes, but was all over the field making plays.

I was very, very relieved to see Farley come in. He has a great attitude and a ton of experience. I also think he is fully healed from the injury everyone likes to pretend was fake. I think he is going to end up playing a ton this year and that isn't going to be a bad thing.

Go Irish!

 

[Riddickulous]

For all the shit we've given Farley over the years, he had a really solid game today. Made some really nice open field tackles on Funchess.

 

[SoIll]

For all the shit we've given Farley over the years, he had a really solid game today. Made some really nice open field tackles on Funchess.

played very well.. made numerous big tackles

 

[NDRock]

For all the shit we've given Farley over the years, he had a really solid game today. Made some really nice open field tackles on Funchess.

Thought he played really well in 2012 (until he was hurt), was supposedly banged up all last year (and it showed in his performance). Kid looks healthy and is playing great.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

For all the shit we've given Farley over the years, he had a really solid game today. Made some really nice open field tackles on Funchess.

I think even this might be a bit of a disservice. He was locked in and a huge asset to this team tonight. I owe Farley an apology and I won't question him until he gives me reason again.

 

[EMAN51]

Farley was great all night. When blitzing, he was collapsing the pocket. Played like a man possessed.

 

[Junkhead]

Farley was great all night. When blitzing, he was collapsing the pocket. Played like a man possessed.

Yep. Remember how many hated on Harrison Smith when he was shuffled around and looked lost? He had a great last year and is an NFL starter. Maybe the light is "coming on" (or injuries are healed), for Farley.

 

[Domina Nostra]

Yup. Kid's got a lot of heart. Love it!

 

[Cackalacky]

Fantastic game by him. I think he has found his role.

 

[irishog77]

Is the '15 recruiting class getting smaller when guys like Carlisle and Farley play like it would be foolish to let them walk away without a 5th year?