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Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons to be excited about 2019 after spring

By Connor Muldowney

EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 03: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to pass during the second half of a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 3, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 03: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to pass during the second half of a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 3, 2018 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 08: Caleb Huntley #36 of the Ball State Cardinalsis dropped by (L-R) Daelin Hayes #9, Alohi Gilman #11 and Julian Love #27 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 8, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 08: Caleb Huntley #36 of the Ball State Cardinalsis dropped by (L-R) Daelin Hayes #9, Alohi Gilman #11 and Julian Love #27 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium on September 8, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

2. Defense is only getting stronger

Although Notre Dame is losing some key pieces from last year’s impressive unit which allowed less than 350 total yards and just over 18 points per game, it also returns plenty.

Te’von Coney, Julian Love, Jerry Tillery and Drue Tranquill are all gone, but returning are Alohi Gilman, Jalen Elliott, Troy Pride Jr., Khalid Kareem and Julian Akwara are back. Add in guys like Daelin Hayes, Shayne Simon and Houston Griffith and this side of the ball should be elite yet again and potentially even more impressive than last year.

Clark Lea took over for Mike Elko before last season after he left for Texas A&M and the young defensive coordinator did a great job keeping the defense on an upward trend.

That won’t change heading into 2019, especially after a strong spring.

If there were any doubts about the defense’s ability to reload heading into spring ball, those have since been wiped away.

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