Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator Clark Lea sat down with 247Sports Barton Simmons today and among the topics they discussed was what the Irish are looking for out of their linebacker’s.
I sat down with Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea for an in depth conversation about how he goes about evaluating the linebacker position. One big takeaway: Less interested in "how many tackles" more interested in "how you tackle". pic.twitter.com/GQH17fusKU
— Barton Simmons (@bartonsimmons) May 14, 2020
In a common theme among the Irish coaching staff, Lea made sure that he reiterated what Brian Kelly preaches all the time, it’s not just about playing football in South Bend for the next 3-5 years, is a lifetime commitment. “These guys come to Notre Dame because they know about backup plans. We want guys that are so focused in every area, so prideful in excelling in all areas, that we really just get to pour into them as football players and make the four year experience the best we can make it.”
Lea also went in depth as to how the staff goes about the academic side of being a member of the Notre Dame Football team. “We want to make sure we have guys that are focused, that are task-orientated, that have the resilience to get done what needs to be done in the classroom, in study table, and in tutoring environments so that everything that we do in coaching them is centered around football.” My biggest take away is the resilience portion, as we all know in football there are going to be trying times at certain points in the season and having the ability to keep their focus and get the job done is paramount in life as well as football.
Appreciate @MoveTheSticks' prototype series for the inspiration for this. Been fun talking shop with some of the best evaluators in CFB. More good stuff to come. Here's Clark Lea discussing the evaluation process of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah who has emerged as one of CFB's top LBs pic.twitter.com/HCLmIBJ7MJ
— Barton Simmons (@bartonsimmons) May 14, 2020
Lea also went on to talk about one of his star pupils, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and what stands out about the linebacker. “I went and watched him play basketball and the twitch was unbelievable. It wasn’t just the ability to jump, I’m watching him crossover dribble in warm-ups and just his head and shoulders, and the way he moved. It was so evident to me he had elite twitch, short area movement skill that through our system developing has only increased.” It seems as if Lea knew early on, Owusu-Koramoah had the skill set to dominate at this level.
It was a great insight in the defensive coordinators mind, and it shows why Lea is one of the best in the country. If he continues developing players like Owusu-Koramoah, school will be knocking at the door with head coaching offers soon. Hopefully, its not too soon.