First video of spring practice

Ironman8

Ironman8

Jaqen H'ghar
Messages
11,652
Reaction score
902
Apparently Saturday's practice will be fully open to the media, so hopefully there will be a ton of video from practice and interviews for those of us who can't get enough Spring optimism and excitement.
 
Last edited:
Ironman8

Ironman8

Jaqen H'ghar
Messages
11,652
Reaction score
902
Think it's too much to post every article, but felt everyone would love hearing Elston raving about Lynch, per Rivals:

Notre Dame defensive line coach Mike Elston understands and accepts the rap on early-entry freshman Aaron Lynch.

What kept Lynch, a defensive end prospect out of Cape Coral, Fla., from garnering a fifth star from recruiting analysts was his overwhelming ability to rush the passer and his less-than-fully-developed run-stopping ability/technique.

“I can see where people felt that way about him,” said Notre Dame defensive line coach Mike Elston immediately following his first work with Lynch on the Loftus Sports Center practice field Wednesday as the Irish kicked off the start of 2011 spring drills.

“In high school, the biggest deficiency when they get to college is that they don’t know how to defeat a block, so you can say that about a kid anyway. Very few high school defensive linemen know how to engage and attack a blocker.”

Throw Lynch into that same category. But that’s about where the comparison to an average human being pursuing a career as a defensive end comes to a halt.

“He was faster than everybody, he was bigger than everybody, so he was obviously running around them attacking the quarterback,” said Elston of Lynch’s high school career. “He did the same thing on run plays. He just ran around people. He didn’t know how to defeat the block. He just went out and made plays.”

Lynch is still making plays, and Elston is hardly fretting about what may be a bit of a shortcoming in his game at the present time.

“He’s going to be able to do it all,” said Elston of Lynch, who lined up with the No. 2 unit Wednesday during the early portion of practice. “We’re very encouraged by Aaron, and he will definitely be able to defeat a block and stop the run.”

Rarely did anyone stop Lynch during his career at Island Coast High School in Florida, and that dominance continued even when he went up against the elite in the country at San Antonio’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

“I think a lot of that stuff (about his run-game shortcomings) stuck with him from the Army All-American game, where he had, what, 2 ?, 3 ?, 4 sacks?” Elston said. “

“He’s a senior in high school. He has a long way to go. But I wouldn’t say he’s any further away than the guys who got here last year. I would say it’s a pretty similar boat, and we’ve got the same amount of time to get him ready. I would be disappointed if we can’t. I think we can get him there.”

Lynch got off to a flying start Wednesday with his size and ability shining through, and his natural aggressiveness earmarking his first appearance in a Notre Dame uniform.

“What stuck out to me over the course of practice was just his ability when the ball was snapped,” Elston said. “When the ball was snapped, he may not have done what we wanted him to do, but he was all over the field. He did a nice job. Very encouraged by him today.”

It didn’t take the first practice of the spring to reveal Lynch’s talents. He’s been working with Paul Longo and the strength and conditioning staff since his early enrollment. The 6-foot-6, 260-pounder’s ability is difficult to suppress.

“Everybody that has been working with him knows he’s very aggressive, so that helps,” Elston said. “It is a little bit rare. You get a guy, you’ve coached him hard, and you’re installing so much, and then it’s kind of a paralysis by analysis. He’s trying to analyze everything and he’s caught up in slow.

“But no, he did not have that at all today.”

Elston said Lynch is wired a bit differently, and it showed up right away on the field.

“That’s in his DNA,” Elston smiled. “He’s just made up to go. When he puts his hand down on the ground and there’s a football next to it and the ball moves, he wants to go tackle the guy with the ball. That showed up today. He’s a very aggressive guy.

“He’s going to be an awesome player if he continues to improve and comes to work every day like he did today.”
Click to expand...

IrishIllustrated.com - Elston raves about Lynch
 
Old Man Mike

Old Man Mike

Fast as Lightning!
Messages
8,975
Reaction score
6,463
Wow. I'll bet both of Lynch and Tuitt become forces year one as shared position-holders with KLM and EJohnson. Would not be surprised to see Hafis back "permanently" at NT, making a three-man powerful rotation there, and Kona drifting between DE and NT with the idea of taking Johnson's place the following year or Cwynar/Hafis' if that's where the depth permits. Lord Almighty we have a lot of players. One also imagines a greater amount of Four-man Front with this amount of D-line talent plus some questions about the linebackers after Manti and Darius. Nice problems for Diaco to have.
 
IrishInFl

IrishInFl

Back in Florida
Messages
5,288
Reaction score
424
Old Man Mike said:
Wow. I'll bet both of Lynch and Tuitt become forces year one as shared position-holders with KLM and EJohnson. Would not be surprised to see Hafis back "permanently" at NT, making a three-man powerful rotation there, and Kona drifting between DE and NT with the idea of taking Johnson's place the following year or Cwynar/Hafis' if that's where the depth permits. Lord Almighty we have a lot of players. One also imagines a greater amount of Four-man Front with this amount of D-line talent plus some questions about the linebackers after Manti and Darius. Nice problems for Diaco to have.
Click to expand...

Isn't that crazy to even be able to say that right now? I mean he came into South Bend at what, 215 or 220 lbs?
 
jakerbluegold

jakerbluegold

Active member
Messages
941
Reaction score
53
IrishMoore1 said:
thanks clash. Im excited to see the dline in action this year.
Did anyone notice Bruce Heggie in the video? He's been virtually absent from any reports ive read or come across.
Click to expand...

I think Heggie is 93, and you can see him on the right side of the defensive line the first time they line up on the initial video. Looks like he could could still pack on some pounds, but he's gotten bigger.
 
IrishMoore1

IrishMoore1

Well-known member
Messages
1,146
Reaction score
181
Kelly said Nix is 350 pounds...

Um wasn't he supposed to lose weight? I recall last spring that Diaco said he wants his nose tacks to be 290-300 pounds.

Someone please shed light
 
J

johnnykillz

Guest
Spit in one hand and a wish in the other when dealing with big juicy(s) and weight...
 
Last edited:
Ironman8

Ironman8

Jaqen H'ghar
Messages
11,652
Reaction score
902
I'm going to miss Ian Williams

trobinson78 Trevor Robinson

Not having @IWilliams95 across from me every play has made practice a much more enjoyable experience. #2gap haha
Click to expand...
 
military_irish

military_irish

New member
Messages
4,725
Reaction score
304
found a good exchange on Twitter between Darrin Walls and Robby Toma.

Walls tweeted this

@Lowood23 @robjob293 what's going on gug friends? I miss my lil homies. How's sprig ball going?
Click to expand...

Then Toma responded this.

@Dwalls2ND what up papa walls!! Haha but we cant call it spring ball!! More like war lol
Click to expand...

The last part of Toma's response is great to hear
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top