Spring practice ignites, Pro Day wows NFL scouts, and crucial spring goals emerge for Notre Dame's championship pursuit.
Notre Dame's spring practice is in full swing and we're now one day closer to April 25 when the Blue Gold game kicks off. The team has yet to have a full padded practice, but unlike the first day out, we saw the team in shoulder pads today along with helmets. In today's show, we break down their spring practice we got to see bits and pieces of this morning. We also recap Notre Dame's Pro Day which happened yesterday inside of the Irish Athletics Facility. There were 15 different players who showcased their abilities in front of at least 19 NFL scouts, coaches and personnel.
Later on, we talked through the biggest things on either side of the ball, offense and defense, that we want to see accomplished this season. There are high expectations following the Irish into the 2026 season, and we believe that accomplishing these things get them closer to their ultimate goal, winning a National Championship. We also talked through who which offensive lineman's emergence is most important to the offense this season. You can watch all of this and more in today's episode of the Irish Breakdown Podcast.
You can watch the entire episode here:
Here are some of the main topics we discussed on today's show:
On Will Pauling's Pro Day Performance...
"He definitely had the strongest day offensively, and one of the strongest days overall. I'm honestly surprised that he didn't get an invite to the combine; Pauling was on Bruce Feldman's Freaks list and has been a very productive player throughout college. He also led Notre Dame in touchdown receptions this year. But Pauling didn't disappoint in yesterday's pro day. He ran an official 4.37 40-yard dash and had a 42" vertical jump which is really good for someone who is 5-9."
On The Offensive Line Getting Set This Offseason...
"Everything that we talk about with this offense around potential and CJ Carr being a Heisman favorite and Notre Dame winning a national title starts up front along the offensive line. Their biggest goal this offseason is to get the five that prove themselves to be the starters in the starting lineup. If that happens, this will be the first time in quite some time that this unit heads into the bulk of the offseason and into fall camp with a set five man front. They're going to need all five of Will Black, Anthonie Knapp, Ashton Craig when he's healthy, Sullivan Absher and Guerby Lambert to be at their best heading into the fall."
On The Biggest Task For The Defense This Offseason...
"Look, there's been a lot of moving parts on this defense. You have three new position coaches in Charlie Partridge, Brian Jean-Mary and Aaron Henry on the back end. The majority of your transfer portal class is on the defensive side of the ball and the bulk of your early enrollees are on the defensive side of the ball. Streamlining communication between Chris Ash, his assistants and their assistants down to the players is going to be monumentally important throughout the spring. Obviously, there are other things they'll have to work on but it starts with the connection being strong."
-------
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!