— Coach Brian Kelly and Notre Dame players say improved strength and conditioning was evident during the opening practice Tuesday, crediting an improved off-season program under new strength coach Matt Balis with having them prepared to bounce back from a disappointing 4-8 season. “I didn’t see the guys wilting at all later in practice as it got a lot hotter out here,” Kelly said after the Irish opened practice at Culver Academies, 35 miles south of campus. Guys were running around.”Offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey, a team captain, said the Irish had more energy than a year ago. “We had some things that I had done a poor job in developing our leadership and the message was not clear within the program,” Kelly said. “I let our football team down not focusing on those very important values and that process and went right to production,” Kelly said.

Source: National Post August 02, 2017 00:22 UTC