Aug. 17, 2005

The University of Notre Dame football team returned to the friendly confines of Cartier Field for practice on Wednesday, Aug. 17. The Irish had spent the first nine days of preseason practice outside O’Neill Family Hall on the west side of campus in a training-camp like atmosphere.

That training camp atmosphere continues, but the Irish were able to take advantage of the sparkling new Guglielmino Athletics Complex on Wednesday and will enjoy the facility for the rest of the season and beyond.

Wednesday was the first time a large majority of the Irish players have seen the completed facility (there is a sneak peek of the facility in the following photo gallery). The spacious locker room, the magnificent training facility and the brand new position meeting rooms were all utilized for the first time on Wednesday.

The Irish face another two-a-day on Thursday, Aug. 18. The team members are moved into their dorms (or off-campus for seniors who decide for that option), but the training camp will continue until Friday, Aug. 26.

Head coach Charlie Weis spoke with the media after practice on Wednesday, here are some of his comments…

On any certain players getting reps with the `first team’…

“I am not getting into depth charts. We are mixing and matching different people between the first and second team and second and third team. I think a lot of time when you play inexperienced guys with inexperienced guys and experienced guys with experienced guys during reps, there are communication problems. I thought today our goal was to mix and match some people so we always had younger guys playing with older guys to help the communication on the field.”

On the benefit of younger players working with the first team…

“It isn’t about the first team, it is about knowing what you are doing. Communication is a key element offensively, defensively and on special teams. When communication becomes the toughest is when you’re at home as a defensive player. Hopefully, it is very loud when the opponent is on offense. You have to learn how to communicate defensively without being able to hear. I actually practice one day a week when we use sound. When we are at home, we will practice it when the defense is up, not when the offense is up. Every one always talks about going on the road and practicing with the noise on offense but not a lot of people talk about the defense at home.”

All photos by Alan Wasielewski.