Notre Dame’s Mike Brey Continues To Be An “Outside The Box” Mind
When Mike Brey arrived at Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish were on an upswing in success. Matt Doherty came in and led the Irish to a 22-15 record before leaving to take over at his alma mater North Carolina. A stint that didn’t go very well. But for Brey, while he didn’t inherit a terrible team, what he’s built at Notre Dame was his doing, not the benefit of anyone else.
Yes, Digger Phelps is the man. And John MacLeod had some good years too. But Brey has taken a “football school” and turned it into a perennial contender in basketball. Look, I’ve watched the Irish all my life. I remember being excited about guys like Ryan Hoover. And trying not to lose to Detroit Mercy. Is that a hospital? Either way, it happened. But now they are on the same stage as other ACC powerhouses, after holding their own for 13 years in a strong Big East Conference.
And for Brey, it hasn’t always been easy. But in his time in South Bend, while they’ve only advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament once, he’s created something special inside Purcell Pavillion. And the way he has gone about it is never the same from year to year.
This year, it was a simple decision to play a five guard lineup against the Miami Hurricanes. This isn’t amazing forward thinking according to Brey.
"“It was as much a defensive move because your big guys are up there the whole time showing on ball screens and then they get distorted. It’s just not good to have to do that all the time,” Brey said. “… Your big guys never play post defense (against Miami). … So we just went smaller.”"
Last season, when Jerian Grant was lost due to an academic matter, Brey needed to make adjustments to a team that was essentially centered around Grant. So after developing a team that was meant to score points off the dribble and from outside, he centered everything around, well, the center position. Garrick Sherman and Tom Knight became the focal point of an offense that ran through the paint. And while they finished with a disappointing 15-17 record, they were competitive in most of their ACC contests, leaving many to believe it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
And all Irish fans remember the phenomenon of Luke Harangody. He seemed to come out of nowhere, but was a catalyst to their success. But midway through the 2009-10 season, after Harangody was injured, Brey decided to take his high-octane offense, averaging in the 70’s, and install what became known as the “burn offense”. The Irish watched their scoring totals drop into the 50’s, yet they found ways to win games, and propel themselves into the NCAA Tournament riding the slow-paced offense.
What you see this year is what Brey’s offensive philosophy is, running at peak performance. But he’s not opposed to go outside the box to give his team the best chance to be successful, no matter what his personnel dictates. I believe Brey was a great find for the Irish, and he learned under a couple of greats in Morgan Wootten at DeMatha High School, and Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. And he continues to make a name for himself in South Bend with a team that is far exceeding expectation this year.