Spring Football '07

Spring football for the 2007 Notre Dame football team is reaching it's halfway point. The big questions coming into the spring were: who is going to replace Brady Quinn at quarterback and how is new defensive coordinator Corwin Brown going to turn around the defense. Neither question has a definite answer at this point and likely won't until near the end of fall camp in August.

The quarterback battle between freshman Jimmy Clausen, sophomores Demetrius Jones and Zach Frazer, and junior Evan Sharpley has gone well thus far according to head coach Charlie Weis, who wants to whittle the competition to two by the end of the Blue-Gold Game on April 21. By looking at the small amount of video available from practice it seems as though Sharpley throws the best looking ball, Clausen is the most accurate, Frazer has the strongest arm, and Jones has the best scrambling ability. It's anybody's guess right now on who will be the top two going into fall but my guess right now would be Clausen and Frazer.

Head Coach Charlie Weis hired Corwin Brown away from the New York Jets to replace Rick Minter as defensive coordinator for the Irish. He's only been with the program since January but his attitude and enthusiasm seem to have already taken hold. Brown will be changing the defense from a 4-3 alignment with four down lineman and three linebackers to a "3-4 Personnel" which Weis described as using a 3-4 alignment (three down lineman and four linebackers) while changing back and forth between odd and even fronts. This means the three lineman will always be down but one of the outside linebackers could put their hand down and rush the passer going from a three man or odd front to a four man, even front.

The biggest difference so far between Corwin Brown and Rick Minter aside from the scheme of the defense is personality. Brown has gotten rave reviews from nearly everyone on his energy and enthusiasm thus far. He was known as a great recruiter when he came to the Irish as he had been on Al Groh's staff at Virginia before coaching defensive backs for the Jets the last three seasons. He has not disappointed on this front, he's convinced some very good players like running back Robert Hughes from the class of 2007 to come to Notre Dame and he's got a great start on this year's class. He has also gotten much praise from the players on Notre Dame's defense for both his scheme and personality, which should make every Irish fan smile. If both of these questions are answered in a positive fashion, Notre Dame could be a very good football team come fall.