Notre Dame football inching closer to 93rd Annual Blue-Gold game

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind – The Irish are making strides to increase talent at the line of scrimmage.

Early into the spring practice, Notre Dame is focused on what matters most to third year head coach Marcus Freeman. The line of scrimmage.

This year, the Irish are without left and right tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher. Both expected to be on an NFL roster after the upcoming draft, April 25 in Detroit, Michigan.

Although it may be too early to tell who the starting five will be on the offensive line, the expectations have already been established.

"There's a great tradition in that room that goes the tradition from guys that Joe and Blake learn from you know, and that gets passed down. So, they feel leadership and they feel togetherness, and they understand the importance of this O-line to this program," Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph said.

"The tradition from Notre Dame was here way before I got here, and it will stay here way before I leave, and that's just what Notre Dame football is all about. And that's all we pride ourselves on," Notre Dame offensive lineman Tosh Baker added.

On the other side of the ball, the defense is looking to improve. Notre Dame is coming off one of their best defensive seasons in recent years, ranking fifth in the country and having the Bronko Nagurski award winner Xavier Watts (Best Defensive Player in the country).

In addition, the D-line is returning Howard Cross and Rylie Mills who combined for 113 tackles, but as a whole, third year position coach Al Washington isn't impressed with the past.

"I honestly, I don't think it was good enough. You know, I think every, and I'm not saying I'm saying that collectively, right at this player's perspective, we got to if there's better to be done, then we have to do better. So, we're not focused on that, we're focused on improving. And so, we're proud, I mean, that the past is great, right? But that's over, you know, this year is yet to be defined. So, the hope is to get better. That's why we do what we do. So that's our mindset," Washington said.