Defensive Line

[johnnd05]

This thread is a place to post news and views on the Irish defensive line for the '08 season. We'll start with an article from the Tribune on Pat Kuntz (anyone got a picture of his haircut?)

Kuntz knows 'dos and don'ts

ERIC HANSEN
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND — He has sworn off McDonald's as well as a conventional hairstyle.

"It's kind of a mentality," Notre Dame junior nose tackle Pat Kuntz said of his one-week old Mohawk, and presumably not the fast food.

"You've got to be wild in there," he said. "And you have to have a wild haircut to go with it."

Apparently Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis didn't need to see the new 'do first to be convinced that the 6-foot-2, 287-pound junior from Indianapolis would be a capable point man in ND's new 3-4 defense. He had already truncated the Chris Stewart experiment, sending the 6-foot-5, 340-pound sophomore back over to offensive guard.

Stewart was intriguing, because even when he was pushing 400 when he arrived at ND, he was a remarkable athlete — able to do the splits, excel at basketball, show some finesse along with his power. As the weight came off, the possibilities in first-year defensive coordinator Corwin Brown's new scheme were too tantalizing not to give Stewart an audition.

It was Kuntz, though, who rose to the occasion, beefing up 15 pounds on his McNugget-less regimen without losing any quickness, and showing the same kind of toughness that allowed him to play football with a broken arm for the final four games of his senior season during Roncalli High's run to a third straight state title.

"The doctor said he only saw one other person in his 30-year career do that," said Kuntz, who played the very next week after the fracture.

The nose tackle in the 3-4 faces constant double-teams, and by nature, that player is never quite sure if the double-teams are coming from his left or his right. And if he's not strong enough, teams can control clock and pound the ball at a 3-4, no matter how good the rest of the defense is. If the nose tackle lacks proper technique, the opposing guards can cause havoc for the linebackers.

"It's a lot of responsibility," Kuntz said. "Doing my job is critical. But I had a lot of motivation to take it up another notch."

And he's got the haircut to prove it.

 

[Sureal]

Good job John05. This is the type of information that I look for but can never find!!! I would rep you again but they won't let me...

 

[johnnd05]

Good job John05. This is the type of information that I look for but can never find!!! I would rep you again but they won't let me...

You need to buy unlimited rep power. Want me to spot you the cash?

 

[Sureal]

Don't worry you will get your props. Your doing a good job!!!

 

[johnnd05]

August 19. 2007 6:59AM

Will size matter for Irish?

JEFF CARROLL

SOUTH BEND -- I scan the Notre Dame depth chart at defensive line and think, "Now there's a group that could have stood up to Fordham's famous 'Seven Blocks of Granite.' "

Of course, the members of that legendary offensive line, widely acknowledged to be the stoutest in college football history, picked up their diplomas more than 70 years ago. In the meantime, things have changed a little bit regarding how football is played in the trenches. As in about 100 extra pounds per manchild.

When it comes to Notre Dame football, Version 2007, forget the epic quarterback battle. Someone capable will emerge. Don't worry about the defensive secondary. Thanks to targeted recruiting, it's in better shape than it has been since coach Charlie Weis' arrival.

But you should be extremely worried about Notre Dame's ability to stop the run this coming season. And when a team loses the line of scrimmage, it usually loses football games.

The basics: Under new defensive coordinator Corwin Brown, the Irish are switching this season to what they call "3-4 personnel." In the simplest terms, this means that even though a linebacker might occasionally cheat up near the line pre-snap to help out, during the majority of plays, the Irish will line up three true defensive linemen, the first line of defense.

Some more basics: Trevor Laws, the left defensive end, stands 6-foot-1, 296 pounds. At right defensive end, 6-foot-2, 272-pound Dwight Stephenson and 6-3, 261-pound Justin Brown will likely share playing time. In the middle, the Irish are relying on 6-foot-3, 285-pound Pat Kuntz, who was listed at 6-2 and 272 pounds at the start of fall camp, to occupy blockers and penetrate the backfield.

They aren't exactly jockeys, and it would certainly be a great group to move your refrigerator.

But at Notre Dame's level of college football, except for Laws, this is an undersized crew.

Not that smaller defensive linemen can't succeed. UCLA's Bruce Davis, perhaps the most fearsome defensive end in the country this season, brings just 237 pounds of pain into the backfield.

To use an example closer to home, Chris Zorich is a Notre Dame icon and a soon-to-be-minted College Football Hall of Famer. He anchored the 1988 national championship line at a sprightly 260 pounds.

Although you really can't tell until someone is thrust into the heat of a September Saturday, the language people are using about Kuntz makes it clear that effort won't be an issue.

"He's a little beast, man," Laws says. "He's a little nasty guy."

Another Zorich in the making?

"I've actually talked to some different coaches who are playing this front," swears ND defensive line coach Jappy Oliver, "and, believe me, the guys I talk to have nose guards smaller than Pat."

Oliver says he plans to rotate his four men in on a constant basis in order to keep them fresh. That's not necessarily a red flag, just the way the game is played these days. However, there are other subtle signs for alarm.

Remember that the Irish have seen several attempts to stock this line fall by the wayside. Offensive guard Chris Stewart, at 340 pounds, just never picked things up in the spring during an attempted position switch. All-American recruit Justin Trattou bailed for Gainesville, Fla., at the 11th hour. Junior Derrell Hand, who at least would have added depth, entered a pretrial diversion program this week for his arrest for solicitation. He's unavailable indefinitely.

Meanwhile, the collection of running back talent that the Irish will try to slow down this year is breathtaking. Georgia Tech's Tashard Choice. Michigan's Michael Hart. The parade of Parade All-Americans in USC's cupboard.

Then again ...

"We're not worrying about backs," Oliver explains, "as much as we're worried about the big guys that cut across."

Those big guys are frightening, too. Michigan's Jake Long and Adam Kraus, Purdue's Jordan Grimes, UCLA's Shannon Tevaga, USC's Sam Baker.

None of those guys are household names. However, they will all be playing on Sundays a year from now. A hearty percentage will be All-Pros. Bottom line -- the quarrymen are cutting them a lot bigger than they were back in "Block of Granite" Vince Lombardi's Fordham days.

Which leaves ND one choice as it waits for its own behemoths in the 2008 recruiting class: Overachieve or else.

 

[johnnd05]

Preseason surprise

Senior defensive end Justin Brown entered the preseason at No. 2 on the depth chart behind fifth-year senior Dwight Stephenson Jr.

But the Clinton, Md., native caught Weis’ eye and emerged as possibly the biggest positive surprise at Notre Dame.

It was critical to happen at this position, too, as the Irish had to replace the graduated Victor Abiamiri, a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Chris Frome, who is currently in training camp with the Chicago Bears.

The 6-foot-3, 255-pound Brown played in four games last year, making six tackles and 1.5 sacks. In 2005, he played in all 12 games and started against Stanford.

“It’s not just his strength gains, but his motor. That is what impressed me the most,” Weis said. “He’s always shown flashes, but I’ve never seen him play with the motor he’s playing with now. It’s been very encouraging.

“And we needed him; that’s the other thing.”

 

[johnnd05]

Brown has something cooking

ERIC HANSEN
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- His cooking prowess was one of the best-kept secrets on campus. And Justin Brown wouldn't have had it any other way.

"I'm kind of selfish about my food," the Notre Dame senior defensive end said. "I guess if my teammates would invite themselves over, I wouldn't turn them away. But I never advertised it. Back home, though, people knew how good my cooking is, especially my cheesecake. So every time I go home, I end up making a lot of those."

And the compliments would roll in, filling in the awkward moments when the subject of the Clinton, Md., product's college football career would waft into the conversation.

"I've got no one to blame but myself for it," Brown said. "I got on the field some my sophomore year because of my athleticism, but people kept telling me there had to be more. I needed to work hard, and I didn't understand that. So basically the coaches weren't going to wait around for me to develop that work ethic.

"It got to the point I was looking in the mirror this summer, and I asked myself 'Where do I want to be in five years?' Well, I want to be in the NFL. But even if that wasn't out there for me, I wanted to establish myself as a person who would be successful in whatever I decided to do. But you know what, I wasn't doing anything to put myself in that position."

So he listened to the voices that urged him to push his limits. The 6-foot-3, 261-pounder's bench press jumped from 385 to 445 over the summer. He became a connoisseur of first-year defensive coordinator Corwin Brown's new scheme and he went from being an option at right end to an answer.

"I'd like to take credit," ND coach Charlie Weis said with a chuckle. "On the entire team, he's probably the most pleasant surprise. And it isn't just the strength gains, it's his motor. That's what really impressed me the most. He's always shown flashes since he's been here, but I've never seen him play with the motor he's playing with now."

Early in Brown's career, a revving motor wouldn't have made a noticeable difference. He just didn't have the chassis to make it matter. Brown came to ND not even having played so much as a full season of high school football. He joined the team at Bishop McNamara High three games into his senior season as a 195-pound rush end. And he only did so, because he wasn't drawing the kind of scholarship offers he had hoped to in basketball.

By the time he showed up at Notre Dame, he was pushing 230 pounds -- but that was more due to cheesecake than elbow grease. He was a full-fledged 'tweener and probably would have been groomed to play outside linebacker had ND employed its 3-4 scheme back then.

By his sophomore year, he was making more than cameos and even made a start against Stanford. But as a junior he became an afterthought. His playing time was cut to a third of what it was in 2005 (28 mins.) and he was never in the running to be a starter.

"I grew up a lot this summer and started to see the results right away," Brown said. "People told me I looked like a different person. And you know what? I am."

 

[johnnd05]

Again, this is old but still worthwhile:

Kuntz plans to earn big praise

By Pete Sampson, IrishIllustrated.com Editor – Rivals.com

It's the kind of comparison that turns heads.

So when Corwin Brown answered a question about Patrick Kuntz with a reference to Chris Zorich during Media Day earlier this week, the Irish defensive coordinator turned assumptions about Notre Dame's next nose tackle upside down. Brown should know a little about Zorich, having played against him in the Chicago Public League and during his Michigan career.

"When you looked at him in high school, there was no way you looked at him and said he's going to be a three-time All-American," Brown said. "When he started playing, I don't know how big he was, but I'm sure there were people saying that he needed to get bigger. He just made plays."

"At the end of the day, that's the only thing that matters."

Maybe it's no surprise that Kuntz spent his summer watching game tapes of Zorich, who'll be formally inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame next year. Based on Kuntz's personality and haircut, it seems somebody slipped him notes on how to emulate Zorich off the field too.

A native of Indianapolis, Ind., Kuntz now sports a shaggy mohawk that's cut with something resembling a lightning bolt in the back. Spend a few minutes talking to the 6-foot-2, 285-pound lineman and he comes across like a defensive lineman's version of Tom Zbikowski.

"Just trying to be wild, man," said Kuntz, who let a friend craft his cut. "I trust him. He wouldn't do anything that I would regret."

If Kuntz inspires Zorich references this season it will take the same tenacity that transformed a once slow high school linebacker from Chicago into a Lombardi Award winner. Kuntz isn't saddled with the same undersized frame as Zorich, but he doesn't bring ideal size to the nose tackle spot either. Considering Notre Dame's recruitment of 300-pound nose tackles lately, Kuntz probably wouldn't fit as a future Irish prototype.

He could care less.

"Even though I'm a little undersized, I've got all the characteristics to compete in there," said Kuntz, who first arrived in South Bend at 258 pounds. "I think me being a quick and smaller nose tackle, that's going to help me out in the long run. People are going to be pessimistic, but it's me out there and it's not them."

It's almost a lock that Kuntz will start against Georgia Tech considering the state of Notre Dame's nose tackle depth chart. Back-up Derrell Hand has been suspended indefinitely, leaving freshman Ian Williams as the lone alterative. Yet the more the Irish coaching staff learns about Kuntz, the more comfortable they appear with the untested junior.

During the off-season defensive line coach Jappy Oliver met with other coaching staffs for tips on coaching linemen in the 3-4 front. What he discovered about other nose tackles put a smile on his face.

"One of the places we went to, I found out that Kuntz is bigger than the nose guard they're playing with," Oliver said. "That helped me a lot. He's always been a fighter and that alone told me that he would be more than adequate to play that position well.

"There's no substitute for a guy who's going to bust his tail and work hard."

Of course Oliver wouldn't mind Kuntz toning it down sometimes, particularly around 3 a.m. That's about the time t that Kuntz called Oliver to commit to Notre Dame back in 2005, just weeks before signing day.

The Irish courted Kuntz in a hurry after Charlie Weis took the job, restarting the initial interest of Tyrone Willingham's coaching staff. Kuntz said he was about a day away from committed to Louisville or Michigan State when Weis called from the New England Patriots offices to offer a scholarship.

"I didn't believe it was him at first," Kuntz said. "I thought it was one of my buddies pranking me or something like that. It was almost a dream come true in a sense."

A lifelong Notre Dame fan, picking the Irish wasn't a hard decision for Kuntz. Instead, he made it hard on Oliver.

"He told me I could call him anytime so I put it to the test," Kuntz laughed. "It started our wild relationship. He's still kind of mad at me for that."

If Kuntz produces this fall, forgiveness for that late night phone call figures to be in order.

Updated on Thursday, Aug 9, 2007 8:01 pm, EDT