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JD PicKell: Notre Dame is excited for talent, depth on defense

Alex Weberby:Alex Weber•07/31/22
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Photo by Robin Alam/Getty Images

Notre Dame lost a lot of its 2021 team. For starters, the head coach, Brian Kelly, is now off deep in SEC country. The starting quarterback and running back moved on, and the defense lost a lot of playmakers. However, On3’s JD PicKell still sees plenty of reason for optimism in South Bend as the Irish transition into a new era.

Over on the On3 YouTube Channel, PicKell broke down the abrupt hiring process for Notre Dame once it lost Kelly, explaining that the Irish were supremely confident in Marcus Freeman from the jump. He also detailed some additions and returners on defense that figure to give ND a strong unit on that in once again.

You can watch PicKell’s comments here or read what he had to say in full below.

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JD PicKell on Notre Dame reload, defensive potential

“Okay, so internally, let’s set the scene a little bit. Brian Kelly was the head coach there for what feels like forever him and his family. Him and his family go to Baton Rouge. [He’s] now the head coach of the LSU Tigers. So Notre Dame — they say okay, we’re actually not even gonna name an interim head coach. Everyone kind of pauses and stammers. And a hush falls over the crowd and they drop the mic and say we’re gonna name a permanent head coach: Marcus Freeman. You’re the guy. Here’s the keys to the kingdom.

“And so, internally, looking at this roster, they were thinking before…oh man, might be a rebuild. Defensively, we’re losing some guys. I don’t know how we’re going to look on that side of the football. And then Brandon Joseph ends up getting added to your secondary from Northwestern via the portal. Huge get. Isaiah Foskey, he says…you know what, let’s run that back. I’m coming back for another year. So now you’re looking at this roster and saying…golly this might be the strength of our football team. We might need to lean on the defense come this fall. And so that’s what they’re feeling about the defensive side of the ball. Notre Dame really likes what they have. They like the experience. They like the talent they think that’s going to be the bell cow for them.”