Safeties first: Jalen Elliott, Alohi Gilman add production, leadership to Notre Dame defense

SOUTH BEND – Jalen Elliott has been around long enough to remember when the “safety” position was a misnomer at Notre Dame.

It wasn’t just the lack of interceptions that caused this widespread concern in 2016 and 2017, Elliott’s first two years on campus. It was the number of big plays down the middle of the field, the kind of plays safeties are supposed to prevent.

“We definitely took that personal,” Elliott says. “We were tired of the days where it was like, ‘All right, we got to get to the quarterback up front because we know our back end isn’t going to do it.’"

A team-leading four interceptions last season increased Elliott’s national profile and vaulted the senior into a leadership role that was formalized with his recent selection as one of seven team captains.

Joining him in that distinction is fellow safety and close friend Alohi Gilman, who enjoyed a two-pick game in last year’s win over Syracuse at Yankee Stadium and added a 19-tackle performance in the Cotton Bowl loss to Clemson.

“Having two captains in the room is just unbelievable,” Elliott says. “It’s an unbelievable honor, but our work is just beginning. We have to continue to push.”

Gilman, a fourth-year junior who transferred after one season at Navy, has been paired with Elliott for just 13 games. But in that time their bond has become strong enough they joked about rejecting the captaincy if the other couldn’t share in the experience.

“Jalen said the same thing, ‘If I didn’t get captain, he’s not going to get captain,’“ Gilman says. “He would decline it or whatever. We love being out there with each other. It’s good to see my brother next to me.”

TOP BILLING

Gaze across the Power 5 landscape, and you’ll find some impressive safety combinations.

In Xavier McKinney and Shyheim Carter, Alabama has two of the top four NFL draft prospects at the position, according to WalterFootball.com. That same site lists Ohio State’s Shaun Wade (No. 5) and Jordan Fuller (No. 12) among the most draftable safeties next spring, although Wade has split time at slot corner.

In Khaleke Hudson (No. 6) and Josh Metellus (No. 20), Michigan seemingly has a pair of future pros at safety as well. Elliott and Gilman clock in at Nos. 13 and 16, respectively, on the highly subjective rankings.

Ask the Notre Dame teammates if there’s a better safety combo in the country, and they won’t hesitate.

“I don’t think so,” says Gilman, who missed all of spring practice with a hip strain. “Having a year of experience has been a huge factor in how we play and how we anticipate. Being able to build on that is the biggest thing going from here. We’re just continuing to evolve and get better.”

Elliott says he believes the Fighting Irish safety combo is the nation’s best.

“We have a great chemistry,” he says. “We have a great coaching staff that puts us in the right positions, and then our love for each other and our competitiveness to make a play allows us to go out and just compete. Not against the other team but against each other. We’re trying to go make plays for each other and against each other.”

Communication on ninth-ranked Notre Dame’s last line of defense has reached the point where a simple nod or a single word means everything.  

“Oh, it’s on point,” Gilman says. “Every little thing. We’re communicating constantly: pre-snap, post-snap, after the play, on the sideline, in the dorm room, anywhere. It’s huge. If you want to be good tandem, a good secondary, a good team in general, you’ve got to have that. That’s the biggest thing.”

Those able to view a Notre Dame practice from close range will hear the unmistakable sounds of Elliott’s rasp and Gilman’s chirp as each play unfolds.

“Talking,” Elliott says. “Got to talk. I think it’s being comfortable in the system and being comfortable with who you’re playing with; knowing that, when I get a bump call from ‘Lo, ‘OK, I can fall off because I know he’s going to be there.’"

All secondaries talk, but there’s a fine line between jibber-jabber and effective communication.

“We’re just making sure it’s a lot of communication but it’s not nonsense,” Elliott says. “It’s not a lot of communication for nothing. We’re making sure that we’re talking about the right things and really just putting ourselves in the right position.”

Even during the spring, which Gilman compared to his redshirt season in terms of frustration, the two interchangeable starting safeties made sure to sit down together and talk their way through film sessions. Passing game coordinator Terry Joseph, who coaches the safeties as well, would leave the room and allow his two foremost technicians to weave their way through challenges that were still months away from becoming reality.

“It definitely helps us because we kind of see it from each other’s perspective,” Elliott says. “He’ll watch me, and I’ll watch him. We play both positions (strong and free safety), so we’ll see it and we’ll say, ‘Hey, we could have shot that faster’ or ‘Hey, your eyes got bad here. Make sure when you see that, you go.’"

Such sessions might only last a few minutes between classes or they could stretch on for hours.

“It’s constructive criticism and it’s what we need to get better in our room,” Elliott says. “The guy is such a competitor. It helps our room. When he competes, we all compete.”

PASSION AND CONSCIENCE

Gilman’s ability to galvanize showed itself again last month when he convinced the entire football team to join a social media protest he endorsed back home in Hawaii.

A team picture was taken at the LaBar Practice Complex in which the Fighting Irish flashed the hand symbol for Mauna Kea, the dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii where construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope has sparked a long-running controversy.

Opponents say Mauna Kea is sacred ground. Its peak is 4,207 meters among sea level, marking the highest point in the state.

Measured from its underwater base, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world.

A deal was brokered this week between state authorities and protesters who had blocked astronomers from accessing the $1.4 billion TMT project, which broke ground in 2014 on the largest telescope in the Northern Hemisphere.

“I’m a passionate player,” Gilman says. “To see (teammates) ignite the same passion I have for my culture and be able to share the same love I have for my culture as well as others around me, that’s the biggest thing. It encompasses who we are as a team.”

Irish players held up a Hawaiian flag in the photo as well as a sign with the rallying cry of Ku Kia’I Mauna, which means “guardians of the mountain” in Hawaiian.

“If you understand pain you will always fight for what’s right!” Gilman captioned the photo he tweeted on July 22.

“For me, I’m (of) Hawaiian descent, that land is special to me and my people,” Gilman says. “That’s a way to set a ground of where we come from because that’s important to us. I put together that movement and that support system here.

“That Instagram photo was just to educate people and educate people of my culture about what’s going on in the world and show my love for my culture, what it means to me and whatever I can do to show that to others.”

Gilman says his parents and two of his older sisters traveled to Mauna Kea from their home on Oahu to participate in protests for a day or two.

“They’ve come back with a soft heart, being able to learn from that experience,” he says. “That was cool to see. I’ve obviously learned from those experiences and learned from what they’ve shared with me. It’s just about being able to represent us as Hawaiians and protect (Mauna Kea).”

'PEOPLE HEAR HIM' 

With the season opener at Louisville less than three weeks away, Gilman’s full attention is on football and fulfilling his captain’s responsibilities.

A group that includes quarterback Ian Book, wide receiver Chris Finke, offensive tackle Robert Hainsey and defensive ends Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara is in some ways capped off by the fiery and reliable safety combo of Gilman and Elliott.

“We both are leaders in different ways,” Gilman says. “Jalen’s a loud guy. He pops off. People hear him a lot. You notice him. I’m kind of the quiet guy. I lead by example. Passionate guy, fiery when I step on the field, but it’s a good combination.”

Elliott, who played quarterback at Bird High School in Richmond, Va., came to his leadership naturally.

“I feel like I’ve always been a vocal leader,” he says. “I always say safety is like the quarterback of the defense. So being able to elaborate on what I wanted to say and being able to put guys in right places is something I did at quarterback and I think it translated to safety.”

Now his ever-hoarse voice must carry beyond the positional meeting room.  

“As far as talking in front of the team, I feel that’s something that has to be earned,” Elliott says. “I feel like the guys have come to me and said I’ve earned that. To just continue to make sure I earn that is going to be big for me.”

Irish coach Brian Kelly likes to tell the story of a defensive meeting on the Friday night before last year’s pivotal home win over Stanford. Defensive coordinator Clark Lea went around the room quizzing his players on various assignments, and it was Elliott who stepped in at one point and corrected one of the defensive tackles.

Sure enough, Elliott broke down his teammate’s responsibility with intricate detail.

“It’s amazing, his depth of knowledge of our entire defense,” Kelly says. “We had two mistakes that led to scores (against Stanford), and he was trying to get them fixed while they were occurring. He’s got a strong mental game because he’s a high-strung person, very energetic person by nature. We love him as part of our defense.” 

And now, along with Gilman, as one of the leaders of the team.

Follow Notre Dame Insider Mike Berardino on Twitter @MikeBerardino. His email is mberardino@gannett.com.