Quick-hitters: Notre Dame RB coach Deland McCullough on Chris Tyree, Gi’Bran Payne, OL observations

Notre Dame running backs coach Deland McCullough has four healthy scholarship players in his room. He speaks as if they’re all capable of playing Week 1 and having roles throughout the year.

A running back rotation with four players rarely comes to fruition, but his job is to get all four ready to jump in if need arises. Urgency already ramped up when freshman Jadarian Price tore his Achilles in June, sidelining him for the season. Sophomore Logan Diggs is working back from April labrum surgery and still in a red no-contact jersey. He could return for the opener, though that has not been determined either way.

Those injuries have afforded junior Chris Tyree, sophomore Audric Estime and freshman Gi’Bran Payne with a lot of opportunities so far in fall camp.

McCullough likes the progress he has seen from all of them. He has noticed a more confident Tyree and a veteran maturity from Payne despite his class year. He has seen Estime make a push to be the lead back. He met with reporters after Wednesday’s practice to discuss the running backs. Here are some of the topics he addressed.

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On his running back grading system

“We’re looking at everything. Guys’ alignment, the detail of what we’re doing in footwork, obviously ball security, all the fundamentals and technique we teach in that room. The guys know everything is looked at. Everything. We might be running a flat route and a guy false steps – that’s a minus. You don’t false step. Guys have to understand the full picture of that.

“Then I’ll re-enforce it by showing clips of guys I coached in the NFL. I’ll pick a random game. I don’t make a highlight. It’s a game, you put it on, it’s all the same plays and all the same things we’re doing.”

On Diggs’ progress from his injury

“It’s all gauged off him. These guys, they call it. How are you feeling? ‘Hey coach, I’m ready to roll.’ You know the expectations, are you ready to roll with it? ‘Yes.’

“If it’s something a guy can’t do, he will say it. I have the medical staff telling me too. Those guys’ own tolerance comes into play. I’ll make sure I don’t put guys in a compromising position, but he knows he’s in a fight. He’s not going to risk his health, but 95 percent of the things we’re doing out there, he can do.”

On developing his running backs’ receiving skills

“We do those things. A lot of it, we’ll talk through the proficiencies of being a high-end displaced route runner. Then when those opportunities come, we see Chris doing some of it, other guys in the room will do it too. You do some cross-training to get ready for those opportunities. When those come and they call for us to go over there, we’ll get it done.”

On Tyree

“You set a standard and boundaries in the room for how we’re going to operate. It doesn’t change. It’s empowering for guys to say, ‘This is what the expectations are, and I can do them.’ You get these guys to speak back the things you want them to do – ‘Coach me up on this, teach me through this.’

“It’s like the lightbulb in the room is going off because they see things they likely hadn’t seen in the past and getting tips and things they hadn’t had in the past. I think that’s showing in how he plays. He’s more confident. He can see things better. He’s clear in what he’s doing. He’s understanding what we’re asking him to do and he’s doing it at a high level.”

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On why he wanted Payne to follow him from Indiana to Notre Dame

“He runs with speed, runs with power, has elusiveness, can catch the ball. He played on defense, so he has a mentality you like. What I didn’t know until I coached him was his mental approach to the game. But his skill set was the skill set, his offers were his offers – Notre Dame being one of them.

“When his situation opened back up, it was easy. We picked up right were we left off.”

On Estime

“This guy runs through there with great feet, the way he catches the ball, the way he protects the quarterback, the way he runs with power. He has speed. He’ll do all the things you want a lead back to do on a high level.”

On his impression of the Notre Dame offensive line

“It has been really good. Those guys are moving guys off the spot consistently. Just sitting in the meetings with Coach Hiestand and hearing his coaching points, his methodologies, it’s strong. You definitely see it on the field in the way guys are responding.

“We feed off that as running backs because we know it’s a symbiotic deal between us. If this guy’s blocking for us to go here, this is where we’re going. We have those conversations and [offensive line coach Harry] Hiestand is hearing what I’m telling the guys, he’s sitting there smiling and shaking his head. When I see him doing that, I know we’re on the right track.”