Tae Johnson And Kennedy Urlacher Will Look To Make A Spring Impact For Notre Dame

Notre Dame's defense is loaded with young talent, some we have already seen. Bryce Young along the defense line and Leonard Moore were both true freshman on last years squad that made a huge impact on the field, especially throughout the post season. Heading into the spring, the Irish defensive backfield will need some of their younger guys to step up to replace veterans like Xavier Watts, Rod Heard, and Jordan Clark. The safety room is loaded with young talent, and some are poised to take on  a bigger role this upcoming season. Both Tae Johnson and Kennedy Urlacher were true freshman in 2024, and saw limited action on defense, but when their number was called, they made the most of their opportunity. 

Johnson played the fewest snaps of the two, mostly due to a foot injury sustained during fall camp before the season started. Johnson was a consensus four star recruit coming out of college, and was a dominant player at both defensive back and wide receiver in high school. The 6-2 188 pound soon to be red shirt sophomore is one of the most athletic players on the team, and coaches, including head coach Marcus Freeman, said he could be a good player on both offense and defense. 

The Fort Wayne, Indiana native made his Notre Dame debut playing corner against Florida State where he logged two solo tackles. He played in the following two games against Virginia and Army inside of Yankee Stadium in mop up minutes. Johnson lined up at corner for the Florida State and Virginia games and took reps at safety for the Army game. This spring, his impact will be felt the greatest in the safety room, providing some much needed depth to the room. 

His class counter part, Urlacher, played significantly more minutes, mostly on special teams. Urlacher played in 14 games total in 2024, but only took true defensive snaps in six of those games (Purdue, Miami (OH), Louisville, Florida State, Virginia, and Army). Most of his experience came on special teams, and he played in every post season game for the Irish from the first round against Indiana all the way until the National Championship against Ohio State. 

Urlacher is the son of Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher, so football is in his blood, and his hitting power on the field is reminiscent of his father's. The 5-11 197 pound soon to be sophomore will look to translate his special teams experience to true defensive snaps in the spring, to add his name to the list of players in the safety rotation. Both Urlacher and Johnson have the opportunity to provide some much needed depth to a safety room that, outside of Adon Shuler, has some question marks heading into the spring. 

Jalen Stroman, a transfer from Virginia Tech, is coming off of a shoulder injury where he missed all but one game of the 2024 season. Luke Talich is heading into his junior season and should be ready to take on a much heavier work load in 2024 outside of mop up minutes at the end of games and on special teams. However, the depth that both Urlacher and Johnson can provide will be strongly desired and much needed after Notre Dame's injury riddled season last year. 

Johnson has all the athletic capabilities to be an impact player on the Irish defense for years to come. In the spring, they will have to designate his reps at safety for him to make an impact on that room, however, he has shown the capabilities to line up at corner and perform at a high level. Johnson is more of the utility knife on defense, and can be impactful at multiple different positions. He might even make an impact at nickel corner, with the only experienced nickel on the roster being incoming transfer Devonta Smith from Alabama. 

Urlacher's impact will be felt mostly at the safety position, but played a little slot corner against Miami (OH) and Louisville according to PFF. Urlacher will have to improve on his coverage technic and ability. There are zero questions around his tackling ability and hitting power that was showcased on special teams all last season. Mike Mickens, the defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator on defense, asked a lot of his safeties in 2024 from a coverage standpoint, an area of Urlacher's game that will need a step up from last season if he wants to crack the rotation. 

Both players have the opportunity to make a significant jump in the spring to add their names to the rotation someone in the defensive backfield. The safety room is the most logical spot, but they both have the skill and athletic ability to make on the field impacts in 2025 somewhere along the defensive depth chart.