The adage is “familarity breeds contempt”. In the case of Notre Dame’s football team, it appears it also breeds confidence.

Taking the practice field officially for the first time in fall camp, Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish exhibited a very business-like attitude.  A coaching staff that seemed to be kicking the tires on a squad last season is now ready to see what this sleek model can do.

“It helps accelerate where you are from a teaching standpoint,” admits offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, who fully admits he was reticent to fully hand the keys to CJ Carr a year ago. “You can be a little bit more multiple, you can be a little more varied because of the experience CJ has under his belt.”

“Being with CJ for a year and having had Denbrock for the last three years, we’re diving way deeper into the offense,” says receiver Jordan Faison. “We’re seeing a little more nuances. He’s trying some stuff in the summer out here at camp, so definitely a lot of new stuff he’s throwing at us, and we’re handling it pretty well so far.”

“It’s a lot different,” states second-year defensive coordinator Chris Ash. “We go out there and we’re a lot further ahead than we were at this point a year ago. The guys are bigger, they’re faster, they’re stronger, they’re more confident. They’re more sure of what they’re doing. The speed they’re playing with right now on Day One is pretty good.”

“I feel a lot more comfortable, as well as the defense feels more comfortable with Coach Ash’s scheme,” lauds linebacker Jaiden Ausberry.. “I feel the first year it took everybody a few games to get used to it, but I feel now everybody’s on the same page.”

Here is a breakdown of what we saw on Day One of Irish fall camp

OFFENSE
RB Aneyas Williams joins Carr in the #1 backfield with Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse and Micah Gilbert as the receivers. Cooper Flanagan started at tight end. Will Black and Guerby Lambert are the tackles, Anthonie Knapp and Suullivan Absher are the guards. Joe Otting is the center for now, although Ashton Craig did take reps with the 1s at center in non-contact drills.

As expected, Carr looked sharp, especially in short routes. His arm strength really makes a difference as was evident in 7-on-7 drills. Carr completed a bullet to Bubba Frazier right in front of safety Luke Talich on the same play where earlier Blake Hebert was picked off by Talich.

Hebert took the #2 reps at quarterback today and while he is accurate, the lack of zip on the ball….at least compared to Carr…is noticeable.  We also saw Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard throw with the quarterbacks and in drills.  It’s ur first look at Jarrard who definitely has a nice release, but is still getting timing down with receivers.

Running back Aneyas Williams made the best catch of the day on a long ball from Hebert, making a one-handed snag, although Jerome Bettus, Jr. also had a nice snare working with the 2’s over Mark Zackery IV.  Frazier was extremely consistent making catches, as was Matt Jeffery.  Greathouse appeared to be moving well with no signs of hamstring issues.  And of course, Faison on  a slant from Carr is just an automatic first down.

Among the tight ends, Flanagan stands out, but Ty Washington also caught a couple passes.

As far as the running backs go, Williams may not be Jeremiyah Love or Jadarian Price…but he is Aneyas Williams, and that’s still really good. He looked buttery smooth cutting through creases and he will be explosive. Sophomore Nolan James, Jr. appears to still be #2, but Kedren Young had some good moments rushing the ball and could still figure into this rotation.

DEFENSE
Let’s start with the obvious. Leonard Moore is really, really good. That showed on the first series of 7-on-7 where CJ Carr thought he had an opening, only to see Moore deftly slap the ball away. There may have been one pass completed in front of the All-American all day.

Right now Jayden Sanders appears to be the other starting corner, although Ash admits that’s because Sanders was here in the spring and DJ McKinney was not. Sanders had a near interception when Carr tried to hit Mylen Graham in double-coverage during team work. McKinney made a nice breakup over Ian Premer in 7-on-7 drills.

The rest of the secondary was solid, with the depth at safety on display as Adon Shuler, Tae Johnson, Luke Talich and Ethan Long all made plays.

The defensive line depth was also heavily on display.  The #1 line consisted of Bryce Young and Boubacar Traore at the ends with Frances Brugh and Armel Mukam at the tackles. Brugh is a problem, the Pitt transfer, built like a giant cinder block, blew up a couple of running plays. Meanwhile, the angular Mukam showed the ability to slide down the line and find the ball carrier.

And here’s the thing…if that’s your #1 line, that means the #2 group consisted of Keon Keeley and Loghan Thomas at the ends, with Jason Omnye and Tionne Gray in the middle. I’d tell you that would be the #1 line at 95% of the schools in the country and it gives Ash and defensive line Charlie Partirdge all kinds of options.

For his part, Ausberry mentioned twice during his meeting with reporters of how much easier it is for the linebackers with the push the defensive line is getting up front. There is plenty of space for them to roam, as Madden Faraimp showed quickly omn one run stop.

We did see some of Kyngston Villamu-Asa at linebacker in non-contact drills. He’s just a little bit slower than we’re used to seeing him, but I’d be willing to bet in another month, he’ll be back to full KVA form.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Aussie Jasper Scaife boomed punts today.  All four I saw were between 50-60 yards with hang times well over four seconds.

The Irish rotated punt returners with Faison, Graham, Aneyas Williams and Dallas Golden all getting tries. Special teams coach Marty Biagi admits it’s a luxury to have such depth at that position that wasn’t here when he got the job.

It was not the best day for new placekicker Spencer Prath, who was 4-of-6 on field goal attempts, missing from 40 and 45, but making from 30, 33, 35 and 45.  In fact,Biagi called it Porath’s worst day in an Irish uniform so far, which Porath himself sheepishly admitted. We saw plenty from the Purdue transfer in the spring to give the benefit of doubt for a bad day, but be assured it’s something Freeman and Biagi will keep an eye on.

SO WHAT’S NEXT
Denbrock wants to get a handle on the offensive identity of his team. “I have some clues based on the spring, about where we feel our strengths are, but that’s going to be determined on the practice field,” says the veteran offensive coordinator.  “We’re going to put them in a lot of situations as we go through camp and work hard to define who we are offensively.”

“We talk about five to six seconds of hell,” says Ash of his desire for a defensive identity. “We want eleven guys executing with speed and violence. That’s the standard. That’s the goal. If we can do that consistently, then we’re going to be pretty good.”