For the most part, any real success the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team has had under Brian Kelly is when the defense plays well. That's nothing new, and it can be said about any regime at Notre Dame and across the country.

Defense wins championships.

Under defensive coordinator, Brian VanGorder, the Irish were falling behind the rest of the nation's top programs in terms of stockpiling defensive talent. VanGorder didn't like to recruit, and it showed with the results on signing day.

The hiring of Mike Elko already seems to be making a huge difference. Eight of Notre Dame's fifteen commitments for the 2018 class are on the defensive side of the ball, while five of the top seven highest rated commitments are also defensive players.

This past week bolstered those numbers with the commitments of 4 Star ROVER Shayne Simon and 4 Star Linebacker Jack Lamb. We can even start to look at the 2019 class, with Saturday's commitment of 4 Star Defensive Tackle, Jacob Lacey.

There's a change in the wind in South Bend right now, and if Mike Elko and the Irish are able to show some quality defensive play this season (especially early) we may be in for a real treat over the next few years.