Head Coach Brian Kelly kicks off the 2015 Notre Dame football season with a press conference to lead into the fall training camp. Damien Dennis/The Pit
[dropcap]B[/dropcap]rian Kelly opened Thursday’s press conference by addressing members of the press the way he addresses his players during a standard team meeting.
“Sounds like a normal team meeting. ‘How many times do I have to tell you about your parking passes?'” the Notre Dame coach said after media members were told about parking pass availability for the 2015 season. “I mean, it’s a normal day.”
The Fighting Irish kickoff the fall training camp with their first official practice Friday at Culver Academies in Culver, Ind., but this morning’s press conference marks the official beginning of the football season for the Irish.
Coach Kelly began by talking about Team 127’s strengths and where they excel on the field. The focus over the next 30 days is taking the roster of talented players the Irish have and combining them into a cohesive unit capable of contending for a national championship.
According to Kelly, strengths for Notre Dame include the receiving corps, the running back situation, an improved offensive line and having a dual threat quarterback under center.
“Certainly, what we have to be able to do is take care of the football,” Kelly said. “We were careless with the football last year, and that certainly was an area where it came back to hurt us. So taking care of the football, not being careless with the football is absolutely crucial. If we do that, we think we have the chance to be very, very good on offense.”
One of the big topics of the week heading into this morning’s press conference was the suspension of Greg Bryant.
Earlier this week, Notre Dame announced the suspension of the junior running back for the 2015 season. Bryant was originally suspended for the first four games of the season for not meeting academic standards, and failing to earn a B+ during summer courses put him out of action for 2015.
“If he’s committed to getting his degree at Notre Dame, committed to utilizing the resources that we have here, I’d love to have Greg Bryant back,” Kelly said about the possibility of Bryant returning in 2016.
The Notre Dame coach confirmed that because of Bryant’s suspension, C.J. Prosise – who was slated to start in Bryant’s spot – would now be filling in full time in the back field.
Kelly said that Prosise needs to work on the nuances of the position, but stated he believes he will excel in the position.
“So, becoming more comfortable running north and south and being patient. The biggest thing with running backs is their patience and letting the offensive line work in unison and work up to that next level. I mean, that is the most difficult thing,” Kelly said. “So patience as a running back, and then what you see, trust it.”
Prosise will join Tarean Folston in the backfield, splitting duties as part of a ground threat that will also likely include quarterback Malik Zaire, as well as possibly a few touches for some incoming freshman.
Kelly sees Zaire as a dual threat quarterback with the ability to calmly get the ball where it needs to go through the air but balancing out the numbers on the ground.
“It’s a great equalizer in college football today,” Kelly said. “So having somebody that is committed and established at that position as a dual threat quarterback is definitely a strength within the offense.”
Kelly added the Zaire has a thirst for the game that is so great, he sometimes gets ahead of himself and they have to slow him down. Sometimes, he knows too much about the game which can be bothersome for the coaches.
“But I think he’s done a good job of making sure that the important stuff is important,” Kelly said of Zaire. “I think what it’s done for him is it’s motivating even more to go out there and be the best quarterback that he can be. He’s so driven and loves to play the game so much that we at times have to pull him back a little bit.”
There’s a lot of talk going on in the media that Notre Dame is an early favorite to at least be a contender for a College Football Playoff spot, but Kelly tried to limit talking about that with his team.
“For us to be a championship football team there has to be an attention to detail. For us to be a championship football team you have to hold each other accountable. For us to be a championship football team, we talk in those terms every single day. So however that is couched, that is out there,” Kelly said. “But do I get up there and talk about being on the cover of Sports Illustrated? No. Do I get there and talk about, ‘Hey, I want to get to the playoffs?’ No. They know what the mission is. They know when they come to Notre Dame what the mission is. We talk about how do we get there. That’s where we spend most of our time.”
Stay with The Pit over the next few days as we delve deeper into Notre Dame’s opening press conference and take a harder look at quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, the offensive line, defense and special teams.
