JD PicKell: Notre Dame being tough in the trenches is important

Marcus Freeman has taken over as Notre Dame‘s head football coach, but that doesn’t mean that the identity of the Fighting Irish will be changing as a team that is traditionally strong in the trenches.

In a recent episode of The Hard Count, On3’s J.D. PicKell evaluated the team’s strengths and weaknesses. One of Notre Dame’s biggest strengths in PicKell’s eyes is play in the trenches, and he thinks that will be a key reason for success in 2022.

“The strengths of Notre Dame are pretty true to what they’ve had in the past,” PicKell said. “They are just going to be tough on both sides of the ball in terms of the trenches. Four of the five offensive linemen coming back, you got Chris Tyree running the ball. He’s a little bit more of an unproven commodity, but I think he should be able to tote the rock pretty well behind those big boys.

“And then on the defensive side of the ball, like I mentioned, Isaiah Foskey, one of your leaders on that defensive line, he said, ‘Hey I’m coming back, let’s do this again.’ They’re going to be solid on both sides of the ball up front.”

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Notre Dame can win or lose games in the trenches

As with every team, the ability to win games at the line of scrimmage is pivotal. Strong play in the trenches on both sides of the ball often leads to teams being in a position to win, and Notre Dame hopes to continue doing just that when the season gets underway.

But to PicKell, strong play in the trenches is only the beginning. Notre Dame’s overall toughness extends into other areas of the game, and all-around the Irish appear to be a tough team to go up against.

“That just as your calling card, football is won in the trenches,” said PicKell. “If you win the line of scrimmage, you have a really good chance to win the football game. So for Notre Dame to be strong at the point of attack is going to be crucial moving forward because think of everything that stems off of that. If you win the trenches offensively, you can run the ball. If you win the trenches defensively, you could put pressure on the quarterback and stop the run.

“So that’s going to be what they’re made of. And then in addition to that, they added Brandon Joseph from the transfer portal, a safety from Northwestern who is an All-American caliber player. Then you got Michael Mayer, All-American tight end. He’s going to be the guy that you feed early and often. They’re going to be really tough both in the trenches and then some of their key skill players just have that tough brand about them… Toughness will be the calling card when it comes to Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame has a tough test out of the gates, as they hit the road for a trip to Ohio State on Sept. 3 in Week 1.