Resetting the Notre Dame roster: How many answers does Marcus Freeman have on defense?

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — All Chris Ash needs to do is follow Al Golden by building one of the best defenses in college football while reconstructing its spine. Tough ask? Sure. But that’s what Marcus Freeman hired the former Rutgers head coach and four-time defensive coordinator to deliver.

When Notre Dame opens spring practice next month, it will do so with more questions on defense than at perhaps any point in Freeman’s four seasons in charge. But that’s what will make everything leading up to the Blue-Gold Game on April 12 so interesting.

Here’s a look at the talent returning for spring ball on Notre Dame’s defense. Years indicate a player’s class entering the fall. Transfers not yet with the program are not listed. Snaps indicate a player’s career workload on defense only. Read about the offense here.

Defensive ends (7)

The knock on Notre Dame’s defensive ends turned out to be true, at least due to injuries.

The Irish opened last season with an unproven group in terms of getting pressure. As much as those concerns seemed questionable in early September thanks to Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore, they proved accurate after both ends were lost due to torn ACLs. Junior Tuihalamaka led this position with 26 quarterback pressures, a 1.85 per game average that was the worst for Notre Dame’s top edge rusher in the past decade. To put it in more recent context, Javontae Jean-Baptiste averaged 2.9 quarterback pressures per game in his one season at Notre Dame.

Josh Burnham and RJ Oben averaged less than one quarterback pressure per game. Bryce Young hit 1.13. Botelho led the group at 2.3 in a small sample, with Traore at 1.8.

The Irish don’t need a Julian Okwara level pressure rate — he hit 4.69 per game in 2018 — but anything more than last season would help a defense rebuilding up the middle. Traore felt like he was on track for a breakout sophomore season before that ACL tear suffered against Louisville. He said he expects to be fully cleared by late April. If that’s true, a Traore/Young combination on the edges could be lethal on passing downs. Botelho, Burnham and Tuihalamaka add punch to the position.

The spring practice wild card is Thomas, who suffered a hamstring injury during Notre Dame’s November run as he played 21 total defensive snaps in the season’s final 11 games. He still might be a year away from pushing himself into the rotation considering what’s returning, but Notre Dame needs the depth. Last season’s injuries are a reminder why.

Defensive tackles (10)

So begins the great defensive tackle rebuild. The question is how many pieces defensive line coach Al Washington will have to complete the project during spring practice.

Rylie Mills and Howard Cross are gone — taking a combined 4,131 collegiate snaps with them — after leading Notre Dame’s defense through Golden’s tenure. It seems like the Irish are positioned to at least hold the point of attack with the returning talent and two incoming transfers, as Jared Dawson (Louisville) and Elijah Hughes (USC) are ready for spring practice. Add in Gabe Rubio and Donovan Hinish, and the Irish should have an adequate corps of defensive tackles.

It’s just that this position rarely goes to plan considering the grind demanded to play it.

Mills missed the 2024 season’s final three games after suffering a major knee injury against Indiana. Cross was never himself after an ankle sprain against Florida State and a hamstring injury in camp. Rubio missed the first month with a foot injury. Jason Onye missed the second half for personal reasons. Hughes appeared in only seven games for the Trojans last year.

Basically, Notre Dame needs all the help it can get, which makes Onye’s status potentially critical. He’s listed on the offseason roster and appears to have updated information. He’d be a major boost to the position group, but it’s not clear if he’s back with the squad just yet — or if the Irish have a game-ready alternative behind him in the younger classes, with Armel Mukam the closest to action but not trusted in bigger games just yet.

Linebackers (9)

Can a position improve after losing the program’s all-time leader in games played?

That’s the challenge without Jack Kiser, who will be missed for his leadership as much as his production. And both were high-end for the captain, who is heading to the NFL. It would be easy to look at Kiser’s stats and think the Irish could do better than 90 tackles over 16 games without much in the havoc department. Kiser posted just five TFLs, three quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. But that was the thing with Kiser: He did a little bit of everything and did it with a high level of consistency.

There’s no doubt Notre Dame’s next group of linebackers faces a challenge, with four returning after logging major experience, including Drayk Bowen’s breakout sophomore season in the middle. Not only did Bowen produce in big spots — his forced fumble gave Notre Dame life in the national title game — but he did it with the look of a future captain. On a defense that lost a ton of leadership beyond just Kiser, spring ball could be a time for Bowen to stand out in a different way.

Jaylen Sneed, Jaiden Ausberry and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa all flashed last season — mostly good, sometimes not. Even though there might be a learning curve in a new defense, linebackers coach Max Bullough returns as one of Notre Dame’s more underrated assistants. After getting all three inexperienced linebackers to take a step last season, spring will be critical to get started on a new playbook.

Is there a surprise beyond these four? Mid-year enrollee Madden Faraimo looks the part, although it’s hard to hit on freshman linebackers, Viliamu-Asa aside. Faraimo’s development will put pressure on the position’s other young options.

Leonard Moore had two INTs and 11 breakups as a freshman. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

Cornerbacks (6)

Getting an early start on life after Benjamin Morrison had its benefits when Leonard Moore grew into a Freshman All-American after barely seeing the field during the season’s first month. Now he’ll be back for his sophomore year as one of the top cornerbacks in college football. Moore’s 89.1 grade on Pro Football Focus ranked sixth among all starting corners last season, one spot ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. In the postseason, Moore was targeted 19 times and allowed eight catches for 67 yards. He allowed just 20 yards after the catch and no touchdowns.

Not bad for a former three-star prospect who some schools didn’t think was fast enough to play at the highest levels.

Christian Gray returns after his boom-or-bust sophomore season, which cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens will need to smooth out. After allowing just 154 yards receiving and no touchdowns during the season’s first 11 games, Gray was torched for 429 in the final five with four scores given up, not including the dagger to Jeremiah Smith that let Ohio State run out the clock.

It’s not clear what Notre Dame has beyond its top three corners, even if the staff likes Karson Hobbs as an athlete. The Irish can’t afford to go into next season with Gray, Smith and Moore as the only reliable options at corner. That’s what makes spring practice so important for Cree Thomas, Chance Tucker and Hobbs. Reinforcements — Dallas Golden and Mark Zackery IV — don’t arrive until summer.

Safeties (9)

Adon Shuler ranked among last season’s breakout stories, beating out grad transfer Rod Heard to win a starting job in camp. He never relinquished it. The next challenge is going from being the sidekick of Xavier Watts to becoming the next Xavier Watts, which means a different standard of play from opening night at Miami through what could be another College Football Playoff run.

Shuler led Notre Dame in missed tackles (18), five more than second-place Watts, who logged 200 more snaps. PFF graded Shuler with a 20.9 missed tackle rate, which is closer to former defensive backs Jaden Mickey, Clarence Lewis and Ramon Henderson than a two-time All-American. If Shuler can clean up his tackling and increase his havoc plays (three interceptions and three pass breakups), he could be in line to make a draft decision after his junior year. It’s all a lot to ask while learning a new defense.

Virginia Tech graduate transfer Jalen Stroman gets the first shot opposite Shuler, with Luke Talich the first man off the bench. Stroman had offseason shoulder surgery a year ago, then missed all but one game of last season following an injury in the opener against Vanderbilt.

The wild card at safety might be mid-year enrollee JaDon Blair, who joined the team for bowl practices in December. He’s 6-foot-5, 195 pounds, and the Irish don’t have another athlete like him in the back of the defense. Talich has impressive range too.

GO DEEPER

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(Top photo of Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Adon Shuler: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)