Coach -

There’s a big game tonight in Yankee Stadium in NYC!  #6 Notre Dame takes on #18 Army.  While most of what I have seen this week from the pundits makes Notre Dame the heavy favorite (Braydy Quinn even agreed to shave his head if Army beats Notre Dame), I wouldn’t count Army out.  

Army has an old school formula for winning: Play Great Defense + Run the Ball + Possess the Ball

1. They play great defense #2 in Scoring Defense (10.33 points per game) and #5 in Total Defense (273.9 yards per game).  
2. They run the ball and chew the clock behind a tenacious offensive line. #1 rushing at 334.9 ypg,  #2 in Time of Possession, and the Army offensive line is a semi-finalist for the Joe Moore Award.

We should note that Notre Dame has also turned in an excellent performance upfront in 2024 and is a JMA finalist as well.

Army Quarterback Bryson Daily is an impressive football player. He became the first consecutive three-time winner of the American Athletic Conference offensive player of the week award and was named the AP National Player of the Week.

He also was recognized by the Davey O’Brien Great 8 performance award  four times –and is a finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award.

Will that formula be enough? We will find out at 7:30pm eastern tonight.

As we do each week, let’s get some insight from coaches on each staff.

Army - Toughness

Army is coming into this game as the underdogs, but grit is one thing the Golden Knights never have to worry about. Their program revolves around the “7 Commandments”, a number of philosophies head coach Jeff Monken has instilled over his tenure as the commander. 

“We want our players to identify as a physical, competitive, even combative personality as a football player. Run with force, knock people off the ball, and be dominant.”

But this isn't’ the only toughness Monken wants from his players. He needs his players to be mentally tough, using the phrase “Don’t react, respond.” Army believes they’re going to find a way a win in every situation at every position, and they very well could come game time.

(click on image for video)

Video: Jeff Monken - Be Tougher

Clinics from the Army Staff

Jeff Monken - The Plan 

Army Defense Bundle (67% off)

Cody Worley - Option Framework & QB Fundamentals 

Army OL Coach Matt Drinkall Bundle (65% off)

Army Special Teams Bundle (45% off)

Clayton Kendrick-Holmes - The Chief of Staff Role and Why You Need One 

Conor Hughes- Organization and Management of large teams in the weightroom 

Notre Dame

Al Golden will have this defense ready to play from a schematic standpoint. The key is in the position coaches and getting the players ready to execute. Linebackers will be a big factor in this in stopping the Army option led by Bryson Daily. This puts a lot of pressure on Coach Bullough to have his LBs ready handle their part. Let's take a look at how he coaches his players up. 

Video: Fundamental Linebacker Play

Establishing what you believe to be the essential components for play at your position within your defensive scheme is the first order of business as a position coach. Developing a personality for your room and setting a clear set of expectations to fall back on is ideal. 

For the LBs at Notre Dame there is a combination and variety of skills but measuring yourself on whether you were disciplined to the teachings, were you aware and did you anticipate and when you did were you violent or otherwise erased any mistakes or advantages your team or the opposing team created would be a good start. 

Clinics from the Notre Dame Staff:

TE Driven RPO`s- Mike Denbrock

Skip RPO - Mike Denbrock

Max Bullough -Fundamental Linebacker Play

This will be a fun one to watch with a lot on the line from both teams.  Enjoy the games today!

Coach Grabowski & the CoachesClinic Team

P.S. 

Army  and Notre Dame are Semi-Finalists for the Joe Moore Award.  This is the only award in college football given to a group of players.  Aaron Taylor and the Joe Moore Foundation put together an incredible resource which makes a great development tool for the off season for offensive line coaches.  It’s available now with Black Friday savings.

The Moore Method (50% off)