Notre Dame Football: Irish Kickoff The 2015 Season

Notre Dame football returns with alot of optimism, player additions that hope to strengthen a deep roster, and new coaches from a storied past.

Wednesday is the first official practice day of the alotted 15 days.

And right out of the gate, position changes and adjustments took center stage.

Adding Depth To The Backfield

In 2014, Tarean Folston cemented himself as the future go-to back for Brian Kelly.

The talented Greg Bryant continued to spell Folston as he matures and stamps himself much like his calling coming in as a heralded freshman.

And then there's the incoming talents of Dexter Williams and Josh Adams who arrive in the summer.

Alot of optimism to accompany some major talent.

And of course a flip of the script from the coach.

220 pound receiver CJ Prosise will add to his resume.

The one time backend defensive prospect turned wide receiver is now slatted to work at the position.

“He’s been in the running back meetings. He’ll get a lot of work at running back,Amir(Amir Carlisle) will not cross train. He’ll stay at the slot receiver. C.J. will get quite a bit of work at running back.”

Golson Gone?

The hottest topic for Notre Dame football fanatics remains the possibilities at quarterback.

Will Malik Zaire secure the starters role?

Will Everett Golson return and become the starter?

Will both share responsibilities?

With all that Everett Golson has endured(much to his own doing)- 2015 is still muddy as to whether or not he'll remain under a golden helmet.

Malik Zaire elevated his status during the Music City Bowl and added strength to the spot-assuming Golson remain Irish.

And then there's the rumor mill of transfer to contend with somewhat.

The hot prospect of a transfer to SEC schools after the LSU bowl win has lately morphed into "What schools could use a 5th year transfer?" yet again.

Texas? Oklahoma? LSU? North Carolina?

Kelly pulls no punches on any player and his role on the Irish roster- or if he remains.

And his 1 time prodigy from the famed 2012 season is no exception:

“If I'm Everett, I don't think that he has to accept that he has to share time with anybody,I don't think that notion has ever been floated to him. I've never floated that. The only thing that I've ever said to Everett is that, ‘You have to come in here and compete for the starting quarterback position.’ That's all I've ever asked him to do. So he is committed. He has bought in 100 percent to competing for the quarterback position here at Notre Dame. Now, whatever that ends up being, if that end result is, as he competes for it, it means he's the backup or that he's the sole starter or that he's sharing time, he has no control over that. What he has control over is that he's committed to competing for the job.”

Should Golson decide his time in South Bend has reached it's conclusion, it's highly unlikely he'll move to a subpar program that could put at risk his draft stock with a mediocre season.

Strength In The Middle

Here's the best core of players on this roster heading into 2015- the linebackers:

SLB: James Onwualu, Greer Martini MLB: Nyles Morgan, Joe Schmidt, Jarrett Grace WLB: Jaylon Smith, Te’von Coney

What adds depth and strength is the combination of a freshman blue-chipper(Coney) and the return of a future all-world player.

The most notable addition to the 2015 roster, outside of notable freshmen- is for now- the possible return of Jarrett Grace.

An injury suffered 2 season's ago in the Arizona State game has kept the Teo incumbent off the field, and the defense sorely missing a great player.

Pending the healing process taking a setback again, the Irish linebacking unit will argueably be one of the best in the nation in 2015 with the return of Grace.

Here's the 2015 Spring Roster: