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Notre Dame football: Clark Lea faces biggest test as Irish DC

By Brad Weiss

Apr 21, 2018; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Clark Lea watches warmups before the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 21, 2018; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Clark Lea watches warmups before the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Clark Lea is heading to Vanderbilt to be their head coach, but first, he faces his biggest test as the defensive coordinator for Notre Dame football.

The Notre Dame football team has a big advantage nearly every week when it comes to the defensive coordinator spot, as Clark Lea has been terrific since joining the program back in 2017 as a linebacker coach. Since then, he has turned the Irish defense into one of the best in the country and earned himself a head coaching gig along the way.

Before Lea shuffles off to his alma mater, Vanderbilt, to be their head coach, he still has some work left to do in South Bend. He has stated that the Irish’s season is the only thing on his mind right now, and that is a good thing, as he will be going up against the biggest test of his career as the Notre Dame defensive coordinator.

As the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff, the Irish will draw No. 1 Alabama and their high-powered offense, led by first-team All-Americans in quarterback Mac Jones, running back Najee Harris, and wide receiver DeVonta Smith. For good measure, offensive linemen Alex Leatherwood and Landon Dickerson are also first-teamers, though Dickerson is out for this matchup.

Alabama can hurt you so many ways

For the Irish to win in the Rose Bowl, they will not only have to stop the strong right arm of Jones, who has shredded defenses all season long but also deal with Harris and his 24 touchdowns on the ground. Smith is the best wideout in college football this season, and against Florida, all three had monster games.

The difference was, Florida and second-team All-American quarterback Kyle Trask kept coming back against the Tide, which is not the kind of game the Irish can afford to play. Lea needs to dial up a solid gameplan, utilizing his first-team All-American linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, as well as a defensive front that should be able to get a push in the interior with Dickerson out.

Notre Dame has some veterans in the secondary as well, so it will be interesting to see what Lea does as he closes out his career in South Bend over the, hopefully, next few weeks.

Next. Notre Dame football: What the Irish offense can learn from Florida. dark

Lea will have to lean on his veterans on that side of the ball, including Owusu-Koramoah, a first-team AP All-American, and safety Kyle Hamilton, a third-team honoree. Against Florida, all three of the three-headed monster went off, and if that happens on Friday, the Irish may not have enough offensive firepower to stay with the Tide.

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