Secondary

[Rip Rap]

Good article. Recruitniks take note: Ferrine, Zbikowski, Jabbie, and Richardson are looking like the starting unit right now. Meaning Vernaglia, Parish, Wooden, and Lambert are likely the backups. Herring, Bruton, Carney, and McCarthy probably sit at #3.



Irish secondary offers primary improvement
By TERRANCE HARRIS
Tribune Staff Writer


SOUTH BEND -- One of the most competitive areas for Notre Dame this spring has been the secondary, where safety Tom Zbikowski returns as the only starter.

With the exception of senior cornerback Mike Richardson, the remaining cast of players is mostly unproven.

But for the first time Wednesday, there was a glimpse of how the unit is shaking out. During an 11-on-11 drill, freshman Leo Ferrine was playing alongside Zbikowski at safety after coming into spring listed at cornerback. Freshman Junior Jabbie lined up with the first unit at one corner while Richardson played the other spot.

Also in the mix at cornerback are freshmen Tregg Duerson and Terrail Lambert along with sophomore Ambrose Wooden. And freshman Anthony Vernaglia and sophomores Freddie Parish and Jake Carney are all competing for time at the safety spots.

While saying it's too early to say any player has a position locked up, Irish coach Charlie Weis said Wednesday that he is pleased with how the unit is coming together.

"One of the areas that was going to be under the most scrutiny is the secondary because of how it went last year," Weis said. "And I think that group of players is probably working as hard to get better quicker than any position on the team."

The biggest surprise was the insertion of Ferrine ahead of Parish, who has played sparingly the last two years.

"Obviously, (Ferrine) was a high school safety and did a real nice job in that area," said defensive coordinator Rick Minter. "He got five or six picks, I think.

"We're just taking a smooth athlete and throwing him at the safety spot. Some of our kids have class conflicts and miss a little bit of time on the practice field so we're taking advantage of that 'adversity for one creates opportunity for another' concept.''

 

[LuckoftheIrish86]

If Ferrine could step up that would be huge
good article...hopefully the secondary can hold its own

 

[Guest]

Lambert looks like he has a shot at being a shut down corner. He was highly recruited(8th best corner on scout I believe) and has 4 years of eligibility left. Certainly has the speed to play corner, and may be a kick returner as well.

Parish has not impressed me much, I know he was a big time recruit, but if Ferrine is better then he deserves to play ahead of Parish.

I'd like to see Wooden switch to WR, but I'll leave that to the coaches.

 

[jiggafini19]

Parrish was playing a lot of corner in nickel situations. He is a safety and belongs in that spot.

These guys will need to be world beaters in the fall. Things as they are now aren't looking good compared to last year.

 

[irishtexan]

im still really scared about teams torching our secondary next year. it was so painful to watch all that crap last year i had to replace my remote twice. i am just hoping that the players are actually getting some good coaching. i cant even begin to count how many times richardson and parrish were out of position to make a play last year. tommy z has to step up and become the leader for these secondary guys, in my opinion.

 

[bmf175]

one name that haunts me out of the starters. RICHARDSON are you serious? He must have improved a lot.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he should do better with better coaches.

 

[Irish Envy]

one name that haunts me out of the starters. RICHARDSON are you serious? He must have improved a lot.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he should do better with better coaches.

Yeah, that is a little concerning.

However, they must really feel it was an issue with the scheme rather then the personnel most likely. Minter, for a lack of a better descriptive, knows his shit when it comes to defense, so I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

One other thing to consider is that the incoming recruits are not with the team yet, no? You may see one or two of them surprise and steal a spot when they are finally on campus and working with the team.

I really hope we land 1/2 blue chip CBs this upcoming class.

 

[bmf175]

Yes I am hoping that one of the freshman come in and get some playing time right away.

I know the scheme was bad last year BUT if I remember correctly.... richardson wasnt more than an arms lentgh away from some people and he got burnt costing us 2 games. (of course it easy to try and pin point the entire game into one play, that was not the only play that cost us the games)

 

[sblxdoc]

secondary is definitely questionable, but with the premier coaches we have these guys will come to play. weis will do everything in his power to have that secondary polished come september.

 

[jiggafini19]

They will have to play TEAM D to cover the area that they are weakest. The schedule is not favorable for the ND secondary. Too many good, passing teams. That could be a major obstacle.

 

[Aerosmith777]

Hopefully that front 7 will still be solid even w/ all the graduating players. If they can put good pressure on opposing QB's, the kids in the secondary are good enough I think to at least play zone defense w/ Minter & Lewis coaching them up. Probly won't be a banner year on defense, but I think w/ this coaching staff they could be solid.

Lol, how's this for role reversal? Notre Dame's best chances this year might hinge on how well their OFFENSE plays. lol.

 

[irishtexan]

yeah its going to be very weird seeing the notre dame offense put some numbers up on the scoreboard. imagine seeing a CONSISTENT offense. that would be sweet. if they can actually come together and play to their potential, i say its going to be a fun season to watch.

 

[bmf175]

Well this year they are bringing in the Nickel defense, does anybody remember what baer's base D was last year?

 

[Rip Rap]

Well this year they are bringing in the Nickel defense, does anybody remember what baer's base D was last year?

I'm not really sure I understand what you are saying.

Willingham ran a 4-3-4, and Weis has stated Minter's base defense is a 4-man front as well (the Patriots and most of the really good AFC defenses had 3-man fronts last season). Lewis should handle the defensive backfield, but will probably work closely with Minter. I suspect our 'nickel package' will primarly be a drop linebacker like Davie used to use (if I remember correctly, Davie dropped Boiman and Ndukwe would be perfect in the same capacity). That is why I think Polian has been given 'special duties on defense.'

Willingham used the nickel often. Too often. I had the impression they were just guessing when they used it. There were a few games where they stayed in the nickel the majority of the second half, as I think they did against Pitt last year (I've done my best to erase last year from my memory).

 

[irishtexan]

id love to see nd run the 35 stack. (3-3-5). i dont know if we have the personnel to run it. but it is a blitz happy defense. lots of different coverage looks that confuse the qb and tons of blitzing. there are 2 strong safeties that play on the field that are really used as "inverts", sort of like a linebacker that can read pass and be used to blitz the outside because of their speed. ndukwe would be good at this because he can hit. byu used the 35 stack on the irish last year when we had 11 yards rushing. quinn got sacked so many times that game because their wasnt anyone open to throw to and the "inverts" would fly around the side and hit him. this happened the whole friggin game and good old bill diedrick didnt adjust to it, even after half time. hope hes enjoying canada football.

 

[Rip Rap]

id love to see nd run the 35 stack. (3-3-5).

Is that a real defensive scheme? I don't know if I've ever seen anybody run that regularly, except for BYU and their wonky-ass cougar-back nonsense where they all lined-up on the yard marker about 10 yards deep for the snap. I know they said BYU had a great defense, but it looked pretty idiotic. Too bad it didn't stop the spread-option.

I would expect any remotely talented offensive playcaller to run down the throats of a 3-3-5. A fullback lead should take care of a linebacker or saftey picking up the halfback, and a good halfback should be able to juke at least one more tackler. That's a solid five-yard average per carry, isn't it?

 

[irishtexan]

at first i thought most teams could average 5 yards a carry too, but in the 35 stack speed is the key. you linebackers are fast so they make the play. they blitz ALL the time too, so i think that throws off the linemen off balance when they are hit with speed? there are some high school teams here in texas that ran the 35 stack this year and did surprisingly well with it. the linebackers also dont play as far off the ball as they do in a 4-3 or 3-4 scheme. they are close to the line. i know the secondary all line up the same distance from the line of scrimmage to confuse the quarterback and not show what coverage they are in. example:

cb fs ss cb

ss(i) olb mlb olb

de dt de​

the ss(i) invert man goes to the strong side of the ball, or he can go to the weak side to blitz and use his speed to get to the qb. the db's are all lined up the same across the field to not show a certain type of coverage. the corners arent 15 yards off the ball, at the most they are 5-6, sometimes 7. the free safety and strong safety just drop back when the ball is snapped. i dont know, does this help you to understand?

 

[irishtexan]

the corners arent that close to the safety, they are both in their respective positions, but thats the best i could get it to line up on the screen

 

[Rip Rap]

Well, three questions come to mind with this system:

1.) Defense is reactive, and therefore more tiring to the players. That's why you want to keep your offense on the field as long as possible. Blitzing your defense the whole game will only tire them faster. In general, I also think a blitz-happy defense seems a bit gimicky.

2.) Highschool football is really simplistic. I am always a bit wary of developing anything at the college level after stuff coming out of highschools. The 35 stack is pretty rare in college, and-to my knowledge-unheard of in the NFL as a base set. In fact, it strikes me as pretty rare in the NFL under any circumstance.

3.) Why would the corners need to play that close? You're allowed contact before the receiver is that deep, and should take advantage of that reality if you're running a prevent. And if not, what would stop a 4.3 burner from running a streak for a 40-yard touchdown pass? A successful play off the defender would leave him open ten-yards deep, and twenty-yards deep he should be completely naked.

I just think the whole scheme sounds rather unconvincing against a well-rounded offense. The more I think about it, I wonder if it is really just a counter to the wishbone triple-option pitches. In other words: Is the defense reacting to the offensive looks, rather than vice-versa? If it is common in highschools and the Mountain West Conference, that strikes me as a plausible origin to the scheme. Who else at the D-1 level runs it other than BYU?

 

[irishtexan]

i just read on blue and gold that tommy z and parrish collided at practice today and were carted off the field. anyone heard anything about this?

 

[irishtexan]

Well, three questions come to mind with this system:

1.) Defense is reactive, and therefore more tiring to the players. That's why you want to keep your offense on the field as long as possible. Blitzing your defense the whole game will only tire them faster. In general, I also think a blitz-happy defense seems a bit gimicky.

2.) Highschool football is really simplistic. I am always a bit wary of developing anything at the college level after stuff coming out of highschools. The 35 stack is pretty rare in college, and-to my knowledge-unheard of in the NFL as a base set. In fact, it strikes me as pretty rare in the NFL under any circumstance.

3.) Why would the corners need to play that close? You're allowed contact before the receiver is that deep, and should take advantage of that reality if you're running a prevent. And if not, what would stop a 4.3 burner from running a streak for a 40-yard touchdown pass? A successful play off the defender would leave him open ten-yards deep, and twenty-yards deep he should be completely naked.

I just think the whole scheme sounds rather unconvincing against a well-rounded offense. The more I think about it, I wonder if it is really just a counter to the wishbone triple-option pitches. In other words: Is the defense reacting to the offensive looks, rather than vice-versa? If it is common in highschools and the Mountain West Conference, that strikes me as a plausible origin to the scheme. Who else at the D-1 level runs it other than BYU?

i see your point and agree with what you are saying. this defense is just a blitz happy 3-4 more or less. the high school teams that ran it here in texas were the big boys though, 5A schools, where almost every starter has an offer to play somewhere in college. there is a ton af talent on the field. but if byu can get it to work im sure someone else can. it was just exciting to watch and it worked for those momo's out in utah. i dont know if anyone else runs it in college, i will have to look.

 

[Rip Rap]

i just read on blue and gold that tommy z and parrish collided at practice today and were carted off the field. anyone heard anything about this?

We should wait for an official announcement to be made. Anybody can say stuff on a message board (as we all know). On the other hand, it is good to hear they are hitting! NASTY.

 

[irishtexan]

if it is true, i hope they are ok. i guess mcknight was involved too, but hes ok. i hope to see tommy z put the hammer on people this year.

 

[Guest]

i just read on blue and gold that tommy z and parrish collided at practice today and were carted off the field. anyone heard anything about this?

It appears to be a joke/hoax...

 

[irishtexan]

just to add, i found out that some f***ing jackass made this injury thing up and was banned from the blue and gold website for it. what an ass, he was a notre dame fan too, not some michigan or usc fan.