Laken Litman and Laken Litman | IndyStar

Laken Litman / IndyStar

Bob Donnan, Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

SOUTH BEND – When you walk into Notre Dame’s locker room, you won’t see all the linemen in one corner, skill players in another and defensive guys somewhere else.

It used to be organized by position — as with most programs, including Purdue and Indiana. But when Brian Kelly took time to reflect after a difficult 2016 season, he decided one way to create a close-knit locker room would be to mix things up. Now, defensive tackles locker next to wide receivers, offensive linemen alongside linebackers, running backs with defensive backs — you get the picture.

“I just felt like we were not as connected outside of our position groups,” Kelly said.

It certainly hasn’t hurt No. 19 Notre Dame’s 5-1 start.

The reorganization was done by personality and started with the offensive line. Arguably the most impactful group of leaders on the team, they also naturally had lockers next to each other. Kelly noticed they weren’t affecting as many teammates outside of their bubble, so he broke them up to interact with others.

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“It grew from there and we had other great leaders that needed to be with other players,” Kelly said.

He’s shuffled the locker room — the one the Fighting Irish use every day in the Guglielmino Athletics Complex, not in Notre Dame Stadium — twice now. The first time was in January before spring practices, and again before practice began in August.

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“I thought long and hard about the personalities that I wanted in different areas of the locker room,” Kelly said.

“Creating the atmosphere of a cohesive group and team starts in the locker room and then it works its way into how (strength coach Matt Balis) each day changes the workout groups. They get excited about somebody different. That’s just the underpinnings of how you develop the camaraderie and guys pulling for each side and we’re starting to see that as this football team comes together.”

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Balis also has revamped the groups during weight training. Whereas players used to lift by position, they may work out with different teammates every day.

Players believe all of this has been effective and one of the reasons they’ve started well before heading into the back-loaded portion of their schedule. When Notre Dame returns from its bye week, it will face five ranked teams in its last six games.

“You just get to know other guys on the team,” said left guard Quenton Nelson, who is next to walk-on defensive back Patrick Pelini and freshman defensive end Kofi Wardlow. “I think that’s what made us more cohesive as a team. Like, I’m better friends with people on defense than I was before, and now you’re playing for more than just the offensive line or your quarterback and running backs behind you. You’re playing for the whole team now and I think the offense and defense really feed off each other now.”

And that’s showing on the field. A perfect example is how the defense has forced 14 turnovers in six games this season, and the offense has followed up by scoring 66 points on 10 ensuing possessions. Last year, the Irish scored 53 points off 14 total takeaways in 12 games.

“I think it’s really cool,” Josh Adams said. “I’m next to (defensive tackle) Brandon Tiassum. In past years, I probably wouldn’t have spoken to him if I wasn’t next to him, you know what I mean, that type of deal.

“It helps you build relationships with different guys on your team and forces that bond. That’s something that we needed. It makes us closer as a team.”

Not all players liked the change immediately. Captain Nyles Morgan was comfortable with his position group, so he was a little skeptical.

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“At first I didn’t like it because I was bought into it being just linebackers,” said Morgan, who lockers near Adams, Tiassum, defensive tackle Jerry Tillery and safety Nicco Fertitta. “But then as things got rolling and we started going through our workouts with Balis — and even there we were forced to interact with other teammates — that was like the best thing we could have ever done because now you get to know your O-linemen, you know your running backs, your receivers, quarterbacks and corners versus just getting stuck in one section.”Kelly has moved players around locker rooms before, but not in such an intentional way, he said. And it’s something he likely will keep doing.

“I know this,” Kelly said. “I’ve learned a lot about how important it is to help players communicate with each other and not do it through text messaging and their cellphones.

“When they have somebody new next to them, they communicate with them. If it’s somebody they know and they go to meetings with them and practice with them, they have the tendency to pick up their cellphone and almost don’t talk to each other. So I think it’s something that I learned about the players that I’m coaching that it’s something I’ll continue to do.”

And that’s perfectly fine for his players.

“I think we’re more united as a team,” Greer Martini said.