Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons the Irish will be just fine without Mike Elko
By Jacob Wilson
3. Promising youth should make it easy on new coordinator
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and while that doesn’t always apply to football, it sure helps out considering the upcoming Irish class. Brian Polian, who heads recruiting for the Irish, helped put together one of the nation’s best 2017 recruiting classes. This class boasts three four-star recruits on the defensive side of the ball, a solid grab for an Irish team that struggled in 2016.
These four-star recruits include defensive tackle Darnell Ewell, linebacker David Adams, and safety Isaiah Robertson. While this particular group didn’t contribute much this past season, a few defenders including Robertson, Jordan Genmark-Heath, and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa were featured on special teams. Defensive lineman Kurt Hinish even made a few key showings on defense.
A healthy mix of veterans and youth on any team is always ideal, especially when implementing an entirely new scheme. Based on the success of Elko’s defense this past year, look for many of his concepts to be intertwined with a more refined scheme from this new coordinator. Either way, whoever takes over this job will have plenty of talent to work with.