Missed the BRIAN KELLY Press Conference?
Here are the Highlights: Aaron Banks surgery went well.
Crawford is cleared to do everything for the team.
On leadership: Captains will be named early in camp. Within the first week of camp. BK wants players to weigh in. There will be an announcement when they get back from Culver.
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On the development of Jurkovec: Really good things. We knew the talent level that was there. He lost a little bit of confidence at times. He is going to be fine. He is the kind of guy that we feel is really going to blossom this year. He will get plenty of opportunities to grow.
On leadership: It has turned out that there will potentially be more captains than expected. Potentially six as in times past.
Kevin Austin: He is still on our team, but it is a day-to-day process with him.
Center Position: Jarret Patterson emerged as someone we feel great about. Moves well. Smart. Good on protections. Ruhland had a great summer. So it is a bonus to have him. Center is now a position of strength.
BK says that Notre Dame has to be “Road Warriors” this year. We have to play tough on all the away games. The players know the challenges ahead of them. BK says that the standard at Notre Dame is high. They are here to make the playoffs. They are here to win a National Championship. That is the standard at Notre Dame.
BK on Ian Book: He needs to continue to work on his own craft. We have to address those internally. That has already begun. What we have seen is that he is a leader. He is doing a great job at leading. He is confident. He knows the technical things he needs to work on. But what I see is a young man that is really confident and holding others accountable.
BK on Lugg: He is our Swiss Army Knife. Very versatile on the line.
BK on Phil Jurkovic: We don’t touch throwing motions. I never had success with it. Let them be who they are. The focus has to be on footwork and confidence. We stay away from trying to make major arm angle changes to throw. We have not tinkered with his motion. He will have some good success this year.
BK on interior D-Line: There has to be a rotation on the line. You cannot play the whole game. Even with Jerry, we had a rotation. Some younger guys are going to have to step up and give us quality playing time.
BK on safety position: I think what has to happen is there has to be some form of the second group there that you feel confident that you can put in there because they need to breathe. Part of our challenge will be establishing a second rotation at the safety position.
BK on Claypool: Ankle surgery went well. He is “full go.” We will slowly get him going in camp.
BK on Book going to Manning Camp: Exposure among elite players brings self-realization that “I’m pretty good.” The great thing about it is being aware. He came back and knows that he is really good at a lot of things and has to work in other areas.
BK on Derrick Allen: Got a lot of reps in the spring. He will have to be part of the rotation evaluation. He will have an opportunity to make a statement.
BK on replacing kickers in 2019: It has been an ongoing process. We are not just dealing with this now. Jonathan has had a really good build-up. We have seen the confidence build up necessary. He is going to get a lot of work. He doesn’t have the veteran presence. We will put him in situations to see what he can do. We have seen progress.
BK on the biggest thing he has learned in 10 years: Ten years anywhere is a journey that you just have to be able to learn, keep working on yourself and keep pushing the envelope. Never get satisfied. We got a taste of being in the playoffs, but I want to with the darn thing. Never get to the point where you think you know it all.
