“He has been very impressive,” said coach Brian Kelly. “He’s not thinking out there. As you know, he kind of disappeared for two or three games last year and it was just his confidence in his ability to do things.”
Since the staff's arrival, Kelly and Diaco pointed to Fleming as a player who was a great physical fit for his new position with his ability to rush the quarterback and play well in space. Mostly a hands-down player before last year, no one is more upfront about Fleming's struggle in the transition than Fleming.
“I would have to say we played on defense with ten guys at times,” said Fleming. “I wasn't contributing like I should have been. It was disappointing, but at the same time I learned from that.”
After a crushing home loss to Tulsa, the light came on for Fleming.
“After I didn't have a game I was satisfied with, I talked to Coach Diaco and we sat down and had a heart-to-heart,” said Fleming. “After that, I kind of looked in the mirror and said, ‘I haven't playing how I could be and how I should be.’”
Fleming's play picked up, the defense locked down, and Notre Dame has not lost since. He put together his responsibilities with his physical tools.
“Now, it's like I'm being a football player instead of just doing an assignment,” Fleming said. “When you have an assignment, there is multiple things you must do. In my head, I was like one thing. If I'm dropping I must drop. If it's a run, I'm still dropping and I'm not supposed to be doing that. Now, I'm able to not think about that, read and just get to think about plays.”
As the Irish try to figure out how to replace on the opposite Kerry Neal and deal with injuries to Manti Te'o and Anthony MacDonald on the inside, Fleming's new comfort is making things easier for everyone.
“It allows you to play fast,” said Fleming. “It allows you to make the plays that you couldn't make when you were sitting there thinking about what you have to do. Me, knowing what I have to do, I can help somebody else adjacent to me and that's helped the defense as a whole.
“I'm getting older. Well, I'm older now. This is it for me so I need to be that guy that younger guys look to and even some of the older guys.”
As Diaco coaches all the linebackers this spring, he can rely on Fleming to help.
“I feel like I've reached a point where I get the tools I need with Coach Diaco, but at the same time I know he's going to spend more time with the younger guys,” said Fleming. “I've reached a point where I can coach myself and know what to do and what I can't do. I try my best to help out with coaching the younger guys. I've accepted that and I'm actually in a good place where I don't need as much personal attention as I did.
“I'm here to help them. As much as I need to be on the field playing, my job is also to teach those guys. I've taken that role and I'm excited to do it.”
A year ago, Prince Shembo credited Fleming for his strong debut season and this year, the Irish have another potential freshman contributor in early enrollee Ishaq Williams.
“He's catching on really fast,” said Fleming who may be tutoring his successor at the position. “He's a unique player. He's smart, he's fast. He's everything you look for in a Cat position.
“He's a great player. I'm excited that he came early. He's learning. I try to help him out as much as I can. He's a great athlete, intelligent young guy, he's picking things up very fast.”
Yet, the senior and the coaches understand that Fleming still has plenty of untapped potential himself and getting there starts this spring.
“In particular, we challenged him this spring to really do some things that he hadn’t done and he has picked up everything for us in pass coverage and doing things that he really struggled with last year,” said Kelly. “Physically, as we all know, he is extremely gifted, but now he is doing things at that Cat position that we need him to do and that’s the mental aspect.”
Entering his final year, Fleming has the experience, the knowledge, and the tools to be a standout. Finally, getting an opportunity to play the same position after lots of changing defense at Notre Dame, Fleming can say with confidence he knows what to do and how to prepare himself to do it.
“I've looked at film from last year. I know what I need to fix and I've been working on that everyday. I'm getting better everyday.”
