How Charlie Partridge Has Notre Dame’s Defensive Line Playing Faster in Fall Camp

Notre Dame defensive line coach Charlie Partridge said Notre Dame has roughly 90 percent of its defensive playbook installed a week and a half into fall camp on Wednesday, and that his unit’s command of that volume has already moved the daily work past install and on to technique.

Partridge, in his first season on Marcus Freeman’s staff after coming to South Bend from the Colts, was asked about the progress of two veterans getting fresh starts in his room.

“I think they’re really getting a grasp of the playbook. We got a lot of volume in right now. I would venture to guess about 90% of our playbook is in, and they’re handling it well,” Partridge said. “So when you have a good grasp of the playbook, you’re able to now focus and improve on your technique and play faster. And I’m seeing that with both of those guys.”

Notre Dame is carrying nearly the volume an NFL staff did, and Partridge said the install pace is a function of who is in the room.

“Our playbook is not that far off from what we carried, you know, last year with the Colts. It’s not that far in terms of volume,” he said. “And it is a testament to their intelligence and their willingness to put in extra work,” he continued, describing a group that puts in its own hours on the playbook and on the game itself. “Those are the things you get the opportunity to do when you have a group that has this level of mental aptitude.”

Where the Coaching Is Showing Up

Senior defensive lineman Boubacar Traore is the most direct evidence of what that extra install time is being spent on. Traore put 10 tackles for loss on the board last season, with 6.5 of those going down as sacks in a 37-tackle year so he has a strong base to build on. What he listed as Partridge’s coaching points is technical rather than motivational.

“A lot of things, such as just striking blocks, getting crushed between the A and the B gap, not letting it widen up,” Traore said. “As far as pass rush, just different moves like pull through, stuff like that. I mean, he’s taught me a lot of things. Just him being here, he’s just given me so many tools so far, and I’ve just been able to apply that in practice.”

Junior defensive lineman Bryce Young, who put up 20 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, and three pass breakups a year ago, said the change has registered in a short window.

“For sure. Just teaching me the wisdom he’s brought, from his long career and long successful career,” Young said. “The stuff he’s learned, and everybody has their own philosophy, but he’s had a lot of success with the philosophies that he’s used, and being able to learn from him, I’ve seen my game improve a lot in just this short time.”

A Deeper Rotation Up Front

Partridge inherited a group that got a genuine makeover. Keon Keeley arrived from Alabama, where he had 13 tackles, three tackles for loss, and three sacks last season. Tionne Gray came from Oregon, where he finished with 18 tackles and two tackles for loss a year ago, and Francis Brewu from Pittsburgh, where he posted 34 tackles and six tackles for loss. Those three joined Traore, Young, Armel Mukam, and Jason Onye, who finished with 26 tackles. Last year’s line was fine and never much more than that, and the snaps ran through a narrow group. Partridge now has Keeley, Gray, and Brewu to rotate with Traore, Young, Mukam, and Onye, which gives him bodies to spell starters and matchup options inside and outside that the room did not have a year ago.

The recruiting end has moved just as fast. Four defensive line prospects have committed to Notre Dame’s 2027 class since Partridge took over the room, and he described the pitch at Notre Dame as a conversation rather than a sales job, crediting the recruiting staff of Mike Martin, DJ Bryant, Nick Sebastian, and Chase Jones for the legwork.

The Standard Inside the Room

Inside the room, Young pointed at the veteran next to him when asked how the group sustains the standard Partridge set.

“Yeah, it’s really all about consistency, going out there and doing what you say you’re going to do,” Young said. “But yeah, I really feel like with the group we have, it makes it easy ’cause everybody’s holding each other accountable. Like I know I got Boubacar Traore holding me accountable every day and I’m holding him accountable every day ’cause we’re going to go out there and bust our behind.”

Traore did not need the identity question finished before he started answering it. He led with one word, then kept adding to it until the whole picture was out. “Violent. Violent and fast. I mean, I just want us to play clear-minded and just physical, just focusing on our keys and just playing through the whistle and playing through our man and our key.”

Young, in a separate session, used the same vocabulary without prompting, and he tacked his position coach’s phrasing on at the end. “Yeah, leave no doubt. Relentless effort. Violence. I can’t really stress it more. Coach says clarity equals velocity. So we’re going to go out there, play fast, and play violent.”

Partridge’s own read on his months on the job was that nothing about the group has surprised him. “To their credit, I came in with a high bar in mind and they’ve lived up to it. So I wouldn’t say that I’ve been surprised. I’ve been pleased.” The season opener against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field is where the communication gets tested at tempo, and the technique meets full-speed contact for the first time, with the last slice of the playbook going in between now and then. It is also the first live look at how cleanly Keeley, Gray, and Brewu fit into a rotation alongside the returners. Everything Partridge has taught since he arrived gets graded that night.