Heavy on hybrids

Versatile will be a big buzzword in the Notre Dame recruiting rhetoric for the next 364 days. Talented players will need to be replaced. Gaps in the depth chart will need another layer of caulking to be filled. But, for the most part, positional priorities will give way to athletes that can find their way on to the field in a number of different roles.

Theo Riddick is paving the way for a slew of running back/slot receivers in the Irish offense.

Irish coach Brian Kelly divides his recruits into three main categories: skill, power, and big skill. Kelly added only one big skill player to his roster on Wednesday’s national signing day (linebacker Romeo Okwara). The coach said that will not be case a year from now.

“We really needed to take care of the needs within the program in this second recruiting class,” he said. “I think we all heard last year me talk about the back end and the skill players. Next year’s class will have that versatility element and it will be centered around that big skill.”

In some places on the field, the move toward versatility is already starting to take place. Seven of the 17 new faces expected on campus by the end of the summer are either running backs or safeties (See list below). Veterans Theo Riddick and Jamoris Slaughter changed those two positions during the final weeks of the 2011 season by adding new ways to utilize their skills. The new roster additions are expected to expand the hybrid roles even further.

When sophomore Cam Roberson blew out his knee last spring, the running back position looked dangerously thin. Senior Jonas Gray’s knee injury in late November left the Irish staff scrambling for more experience in the backfield again. They turned to Riddick, a running back-turned-receiver, who helped Kelly and his coaches see the relationship between those two positions in their offense.

Riddick split time in the slot and in the backfield against Stanford and Florida State, and the Irish have stocked up on players who can do the same. Rising sophomore George Atkinson III, USC transfer Amir Carlisle and incoming freshman KeiVarae Russell all have the right tools to shift into a receiver role if needed. To a lesser extent rising senior Cierre Wood and sophomore Cam McDaniel also have the potential to line up in the slot and catch passes. With eight players listed as running backs on the roster, Notre Dame will need to find ways to spread some of that talent to different parts of the field.

“He can line up as a wide receiver, be an effective tool there, and the next play he can be in the backfield,” Kelly said of the new prototype. “We’re looking at maybe two positions in one as it relates to those players. We can give you some more in-depth understanding of that at a later date.”

That later date, Kelly hinted, will come when new coaching titles are made public for the revamped staff by the end of next week. The two assistants currently without a specific position group are offensive coaches Tony Alford and Scott Booker. It would make sense that one of the two (likely Alford) will work with both running backs and slot receivers to cement the tie between those two positions. The other coach would be able to keep his focus on the thoroughbred receivers at the W and X positions.

A Star is Born
Kelly introduced a new name to Notre Dame’s defensive nomenclature Wednesday afternoon. The outside linebacker/defensive back role in which Slaughter excelled late in the season is known as the “star.”


Incoming freshman Nick Baratti has the versatility Kelly is looking for at the star position.

Irish defensive backs first started lining up near the line of scrimmage against the military triple options teams in 2010 to corral the pitch man with some speed before he got to the second level. Late this fall, especially against the Seminoles in Orlando, the star became a weapon against the spread offense as well.

“Teams are spreading out so you have to be a little bit more versatile on the perimeter,” Kelly said Wednesday. “Those safeties have to have the ability in certain instances to come down on the ball as well.”

Notre Dame signed four safeties to its 2012 class — more than any other position group — many of whom have the mixture of speed and physicality needed to drop back in coverage or stand strong in the box depending on the opponent. One or two of the new safeties may eventually slip outside to help fill voids at cornerback, but others will train to replace Slaughter, a fifth-year senior next fall.

The most shining example of the versatility Kelly is looking for is Nick Baratti. The 6-2, 200-pound Texas native was named a consensus 5A All-State tight end following his senior season at Klein Oak High School. He also played quarterback, running back, wide receiver, safety and punter throughout the year.

“He’s a football player. Here’s a kid who goes into his coach’s office and says coach I’ll play tight end, I’ll play quarterback, let me help the team win. Those are great stories,” Kelly said.

They are also stories Kelly hopes he will be hearing from his own players often in the coming years.

Well-stocked Shelves
A list of the Irish roster at running back and safety after signing day.

George Atkinson III (RB)
Amir Carlisle* (RB)
Will Mahone* (RB)
Cam McDaniel (RB)
Theo Riddick (RB)
Cam Roberson (RB)
KeiVarae Russell* (RB)
Cierre Wood (RB)

Chris Badger* (S)
Nick Baratti* (S)
Austin Collinsworth (S)
Eilar Hardy* (S)
Dan McCarthy** (S)
Zeke Motta (S)
C.J. Prosise* (S)
Elijah Shumate* (S)
Jamoris Slaughter** (S)
John Turner* (S)

* = New Additions in 2012
** = Eligible for a fifth year in 2012