Coach’s Corner: Notre Dame Special Teams and Intangibles:

Posted at 8:00am — 9/10/2010

Coach’s Corner: Notre Dame Special Teams and Intangibles:

Special Teams: Notre Dame

Nick Tausch was 14 of 17 last year; very strong, and anytime a team can bring back a successful kicker this is a good thing. Going into a season with inexperienced kickers always makes coaches more than just a little nervous. One never knows for certain how a kicker will react until he gets into a game, in front of a large crowd in a big game.

Coach Kelly puts special emphasis on special teams, so this is an area to watch.

The Intangibles:

Coach Kelly can coach; he has been successful at every stop. He knows the game and is one of the better teachers in college football. Coach Kelly has made himself successful and has certainly deserved his fast rise though the coaching ranks.

Make no mistake Coach Kelly will have Notre Dame prepped and ready to play, very ready.

As stated already by the GBMWolverine staff, one important key will be Michigan coming back to play at a high level against a very good opponent after a big emotional win at The Big House. Coach Rod can also coach and he will do his utmost to communicate the urgency and need for intensity, focus, and execution this week.

The Golden Domer’s will be rocking the stadium and Michigan must come ready to play. The Blue must show the same emotion displayed against UConn this week for Notre Dame, a game that is on the road. It is always a tougher deal to pull such a move off when on the road and people are rooting against you.

Playing at Notre Dame is tough for several reasons. Recent history not withstanding this is the second most successful program in the history of college football. Weird things always seem to happen whenever Michigan plays in South Bend. Call it the luck of the Irish, but Michigan has struggled at Notre Dame.

This is a big game for both programs. Coach Rod is in year three of transforming the Michigan program, whereas Coach Kelly is in year one, but both want to show that their system is on the right track. And this is always a big game, no matter if both teams are in the top five or not even ranked. This is a game where coaches and others can judge a team on how it has progressed so far.

Coach Kelly, we are confident, will downplay this game to the press, doing a little soft shoe.

Behind closed doors, we are also confident he is intensely prepping his team for war. We would not be surprised if Notre Dame has not been doing what Ohio State does, practicing something everyday to get ready for Michigan.

We believe Coach Kelly wants to win this game badly, but beyond the pure competition he has extra incentive since when the Michigan coaching job became available he never even got a whiff or an interview for the position, and as expected people threw out rumors as to the reason(s) why Coach Kelly would not be a good fit at Michigan.

This is an intriguing match-up, for many reasons.

Written by GBMWolverine Staff

Go Blue — Wear Maize!