Te'von Coney's breakout season will have an encore in South Bend.

On the final day underclassmen could declare for the NFL Draft, the junior linebacker stayed out of that pool, giving his Notre Dame career a fourth and final season. Now Coney can build on a year that took him from rotational player to arguably Notre Dame’s top linebacker.

Brian Kelly announced the return of Coney via Twitter. Irish Illustrated also reported earlier that Jerry Tillery would also return.

Coney later posted the following statement on Twitter.





Coney finished last fall with 116 tackles, 13.0 TFLs and three sacks. The tackle total and TFL marks both led the Irish defense despite starting just seven games.

Notre Dame needed the former four-star prospect from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., back to help solidify its defensive middle under new defensive coordinator Clark Lea.

Without Coney, senior Drue Tranquill would have returned as the only linebacker with any serious experience, with Nyles Morgan and Greer Martini both out of eligibility. Now Coney can potentially pair with Tranquill in the middle of the defense with plenty of talent returning along the defensive line.

If Coney had bolted, Lea would have either had to go young – early enrollees Jack Lamb, Ovie Oghoufo and Bo Bauer arrived on campus this weekend – or develop something out of the roster’s older talent in sophomores Jamir Jones and Jonathan Jones or junior Asmar Bilal. All three played limited roles last season, although Jamir factored into the defensive game plan against LSU in the Citrus Bowl.

It’s unclear how freshmen Drew White and David Adams, who’s coming off shoulder surgery, fit into the linebacker room moving forward.

Assuming Tranquill moves inside, Bilal could take over at rover to give the Irish three seniors in the starting lineup at linebacker. There’s a chance freshman Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah or incoming freshman Shayne Simon both get early looks at rover too.

Regardless of how Lea makes his first Notre Dame defense go, now he knows Coney will be part of it.

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