Notre Dame Football: Let’s Talk About Nyles Morgan

Nyles Morgan will most likely be the key to any success Notre Dame has in 2016.

As the saying goes, the most popular player on the Notre Dame football team is the backup quarterback. Last year (and perhaps most of 2014 as well) the most popular player may have been the backup middle linebacker, Nyles Morgan.

For all of the emotional ownership Notre Dame fans had with Joe Schmidt and his story of walk-on turned starter, there was no denying the fact that Schmidt was lacking in every physical category possible when compared to Morgan. It wasn’t even close. Still, Schmidt possessed something much more valuable to Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder in that he understood the mental part of the game, and directed the the team on the field- almost like a player-coach.

All last season, we watched as Schmidt struggled and yet- no Morgan. Fans were beside themselves, and the reasons / excuses about Schmidt knowing the defense better than Morgan were falling on deaf ears as we saw Schmidt getting worked over, physically. The drumbeat for Morgan got louder.

Joe Schmidt is gone, and now after spring ball, we are told that Morgan has finally grasped this defense that many have described as ridiculously too complex. That’s great, but my first thoughts about all of this still haunt me.