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Notre Dame Football 2017 preview

By John Buhler

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and his team wait to head on to the field for the start of the game against the Syracuse Orange at MetLife Stadium on October 1, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and his team wait to head on to the field for the start of the game against the Syracuse Orange at MetLife Stadium on October 1, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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October 15, 2016: Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Nyles Morgan (5) during the NCAA football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Stanford Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
October 15, 2016: Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Nyles Morgan (5) during the NCAA football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Stanford Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Defensive Preview

While the offense appears to be a strength for the Fighting Irish, there are more questions than answers with the Notre Dame defense heading into 2017. Remember that Notre Dame fired former defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder mid-season last year after a dreadful 1-3 start.

Notre Dame made a sound hire for their new defensive coordinator in getting Mike Elko out of Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons quietly had one of the better defense teams in the ACC last year. Elko will have a tougher time than Long running his new offense at Notre Dame. So about that Fighting Irish defensive personnel?

Notre Dame will be experienced up front with three seniors starting on the defensive line. Winning in the trenches on both sides of the ball is the quickest path to victory for the Golden Domers this season. The linebacking corps is experienced as well with seniors Greer Martini, Nyles Morgan and Drue Tranquill.

In short, Notre Dame has the senior leadership to be stout defensively in the front-seven, but the secondary is a completely different animal. Notre Dame will be starting a pair of sophomores in the defensive backfield. This could prove problematic against some of the better passing teams on their schedule like North Carolina, North Carolina State and USC.

While bad weather late in the season should helps this defense out considerably, the bulk of the Fighting Irish’s toughest games will be on the road this season in decent weather cities like Chapel Hill, Miami Gardens and Palo Alto. Notre Dame’s overall record hinges greatly on how well all three layers of its defense plays.