When Bob Elliott was hired as a special assistant to the head coach at Notre Dame, one of his first tasks was to conduct an in-depth study on option football.
Notre Dame plays Navy every year and also had Georgia Tech and Army on the 2015 and 2016 schedules. Elliott, who had previously coached the safeties and linebackers for the Fighting Irish, took a close look at opponents that did a decent job of defending the option. He visited those schools, talked to defensive coordinators and compiled a list of strategies that had worked against the unique attack.