SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Coach Brian Kelly isn’t happy with the way the wide receiver position is shaping up at Notre Dame.
Kelly said he doesn’t “sleep easy” when it comes to the receiving corps, a statement that was a bit surprising considering the Fighting Irish were fifth in the nation in pass offense last season.
Sure, they lost Golden Tate, who was third in the nation at 125 yards receiving a game last season, but Michael Floyd, who averaged 114 yards, is back. So is Duval Kamara (18.2 yards a game), John Goodman (11.6) and Shaquelle Evans (10.2). They also added Tai-ler Jones, a freshman who had 76 catches for 1,399 yards and 18 touchdowns at Gainesville (Ga.) High School last season.
The problem is that the receivers have barely had time to catch their breath this spring as they switch from a pro-style offense to a spread offense that has them not only running pass patterns but hustling back to the line for the next play in Kelly’s no-huddle offense.
ll the plays while on the move, it’s kind of unusual for guys used to the pro-style offense,” Kamara said. “You have to run back to the huddle – not even the huddle – to the line of scrimmage and get the signals. And there are so many different signals.”
This is nothing new for Kelly, who had a high-flying offense at Cincinnati and set the tone for the Irish receivers when he said Floyd had work to do this spring. Kelly said Floyd already had lost 16 pounds but needed to get in better shape so he could do the volume of work necessary in the spread. That’s still the message to all the receivers as spring practice comes to a close Saturday with the annual Blue-Gold game.
“Those receivers just got tired too quickly for us in our offense and we’ll work hard on that,” Kelly said.
Floyd, who said he lost only about 10 pounds, suggested it’s a challenge to meet Kelly’s expectations.
“I think as a team we just keep this thing moving faster. Everything we should know we should know. But somehow mistakes happen out here. We just have to make sure we’re on our game every time we come out to practice,” he said.
Offensive coordinator Charley Molnar said more is expected from the receivers than in the past as they go full speed for 24 five-minute periods in practices.
he plays we throw at them on a daily basis but also all the coverages our defense is playing against us every single day. When you put all that together some of those guys are making good strides, some aren’t. So when we look at the group as a whole, we’re not overly pleased with the results.”
Jones, who entered Notre Dame in January, admits he hasn’t been able to go as hard as coaches want during practices.
“It really comes down to just pushing myself harder at practice and being able to push that wall to where I can push through that,” he said. “In high school I never really got that fatigued.”
Receivers coach Tony Alford said players need to be mentally tougher.
“There’s a lot coming at them. Those guys have to run a lot so they’re tired. That’s the thing, you have to condition your mind and your body will follow,” he said.
Kelly said he expects the receivers to work hard in the offseason to make sure they’re ready to go full speed when practices resume in August.
“We need more time. We need all summer and we need preseason camp. We are going to need all that time,” he said. “They’re working hard, and I can tell you this, the one thing that will be absolutely crucial is their work volume will have to go up this summer.”
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