Brian Kelly spoke with reports in his weekly teleconference for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Kelly touched on the new contributors throughout his roster, wrapped up the New Mexico game, and began to preview the upcoming clash with the Georgia Bulldogs.

New Contributors

-Brian Kelly is extremely pleased with Javon McKinley. Kelly said he is one of the most physical players on the roster and one of the most athletic players in the weight room. He has helped to give the staff much more flexibility in how they play certain receivers in certain situations. Plan to see a heavy dose of him moving forward in the passing game.

-Kelly continued to heap praise on freshman Kyle Hamilton. He noted how valuable it is to have Hamilton in on passing downs due to his great instincts and nose for the football.

-Jay Bramblett has made a positive first impression on the head coach. Brian Kelly lauded Bramblett’s rare ability to pin teams inside the 10 yard line, his quickness in getting punts off, and how well he has handled being the holder on kicks. Kelly also made the remark, “I guess Alabama didn’t have a scholarship for the kid, but we’re glad to have him.”

-Expect to see Braden Lenzy in small doses each game. The staff designed several plays specifically for Lenzy this week, and he created positive plays with each opportunity.

-The two young signal callers handled themselves adequately in the second half. Phil Jurkovec displayed great presence on the field but needs to continue to work on zone reads. Brendon Clark had great demeanor during his stint at quarterback.

New Mexico Wrap Up

-Brian Kelly felt his team showed the necessary improvement between their 1st and 2nd game. He is excited to continue to watch their growth the rest of the year.

-Kelly addressed the need for his run defense to improve. He is not pleased with the overall team support on defense right now. He feels guys are not playing with an attention to detail and said if it continues against Georgia that there will be a ton of long runs that go for touchdowns.

-Brian views the forward laterals as an extension of the running game. He felt the offense needed to get the ball on the perimeter more and was pleased with the execution from the line with those plays. Sounds like this will continue to be deployed weekly against teams.

All Things Georgia

-Michael Young is out this week. He will take part in all team activities but will be cleared next week at the earliest. Kelly spoke about how the Michael Young injury has forced Chris Finke to move around on offense and play more at the “X” position than what was originally planned.

-Kelly is “hopeful” that Cole Kmet will play this week. He said the staff will gather more information on Kmet tomorrow.

-Jahmir Smith has the potential to play this weekend. He was walking around today and will begin a sprint progression tomorrow.

-Kelly talked about why Georgia was added to the schedule. The reasons he gave were: they were looking to add a big time SEC opponent, Notre Dame is continuing to recruit heavily in Georgia and wanted a presence in the state, and there is a large group of alumni in the state.

-Kelly compared the 2017 teams to the two squads this season. He feels Notre Dame is more diverse at the wide receiver and tight end positions. He said the quarterback play is “different” as compared to the 2017 Irish. Kelly sees a similar Georgia team from 2017 in that they have big offensive lineman and will lean heavily on their big play running backs. He sees this year’s Georgia defense as more physical and a little less athletic than the 2017 version. However, he believes the 2019 Georgia Bulldogs are “an outstanding football team in all areas.”

The Irish are 22-3 since the 2017 game against Georgia. Let’s hope Kelly and the team can show the country this week just how far they have truly come since the 2016 debacle.