This past Wednesday, April 4, 2012 was the last Notre Dame football spring practice before Easter. The Fighting Irish will now take a week long break over Easter before resuming spring practice on Wednesday April 11, 2012.

So, what do we know, or what do we think we know, about the 2012 edition of the Notre Dame Football team?

Well to start, there are two key facts to know about spring football practice.

First, there are 14 incoming freshman who will not set foot on campus until this fall. Therefore, spring football commences without them, and as we know from 2011 (i.e. Stephon Tuitt), some of these freshman may be able to have an impact on the 2012 season.

Second, it’s important to note that the spring is all about getting players adjusted to the responsibilities of their positions and not aligning the depth chart. That is for the fall.

Okay, so back to what do we know about the Notre Dame Football team after a couple weeks of spring practice?

Aaron Lynch is a celebrity

Aaron Lynch was noticeably absent from Wednesday’s practice and rather, unexpectedly, the cyber media went wild. There were rumors flying around twitter and other social media that Lynch had left the team, while others said he may have gone pro. But, in the end, Lynch was excused from practice for personal reasons and was in Ohio with his mother. Who, by the way, tweeted for everyone to just knock off the rumors. Sound advice.

Granted, Lynch was the best defensive linemen on the team last year, but it was hard to see the firestorm surrounding his absence come down the way it did.

Kyle Brindza has some leg

The field goal unit got to work together for the first time on Wednesday. Jordan Cowart was snapping and Ben Turk was holding. Both Nick Tausch (senior) and Kyle Brindza (sophomore) got a chance to work out their legs.

Brindza was the more impressive of the two making all six of his attempts, including a 48-yarder with room to spare. Tausch went four-for-six, with two misses to the left.

Braxston Cave back with the first unit

Fifth-year senior Braxston Cave was working with the No. 1 unit again for the first time since his season ending injury last year. 

Cave had not participated the first half of spring while recovering from his injury. How much he continues to practice is uncertain, as is his participation in the April 21 Blue-Gold Game. But, his presence on Wednesday was good to see.

The rest of the offensive line consisted of incumbent starters on the left side, Zach Martin and Chris Watt at tackle and guard, respectively. The right side of the line saw more interchanging of players, as junior Christian Lombard started the spring at guard, while Tate Nichols was at tackle.

This past week saw Lombard move over to tackle and Conor Hanratty step in at guard. Also, at times, Mike Golic, Jr. would come in at right guard, while Lombard remained at right tackle. There’s quite a battle going on for the two spots on the right side of the line with these guys.

Quarterback

Put any thoughts of having head coach Brian Kelly name a starting quarterback after spring practice out of your head now. It’s just not going to happen. It doesn't matter what you read or you talk to that says anything to the contrary. Here's the reason.

This spring Kelly dumbed-down the playbook so that all four quarterbacks could start on the same page. In short, three of the four are learning the playbook and it would be extremely unfair to any of the four to eliminate them from starting contention after 15 spring practices. So, this spring, practice is just that for the four quarterbacks … practice. Nothing more and nothing less.

That being said, Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix have been alternating snaps with the first unit, while Everett Golson and Gunner Kiel have been rotating with the second unit. Golson has shown the strongest arm of the four, but he hasn’t always been accurate. He sailed a couple wide of his target and will need to sure those up if he’s going to contend for the starting spot.

Cornerback

Outside of quarterback, this is the most unsettled position on the team. This past Wednesday, Jamoris Slaughter was brought in from safety to play some corner. Kelly stated it was to give the defensive backfield options in case of injuries, but there’s more going on than.

Bennett Jackson has established himself as the short side of the field corner, but the wide-side corner position has seen no one emerge.

While Lo Wood, Josh Atkinson, and Jalen Brown are struggling to seize the wide side corner spot, Austin Collingsworth is having a good spring at safety. Collingsworth’s good showing, and the lack of on the wide -side corner contestant’s part, brings Slaughter down to that corner.

Additionally, fifth-year senior Dan McCarthy has been playing well at safety, giving the coaching staff more options there than at corner right now. At the very least, the move of Slaughter playing some wide side corner speaks volumes, and, as of right now, the safety position is in better shape than that corner spot.

High profile recruits watching practice

Quietly, Notre Dame is putting together a really good 2013 recruiting class. They’ve already got two cornerbacks in the class to go along with four offensive linemen and a steal in quarterback Malik Zaire.

This past week, five-star linebacker Jaylon Smith was in to watch practice, as was four-star offensive tackle Aaron Cochran (Atwater, Calif.), and four-star defensive end Josh Augusta (Peoria, Ind.).

Smith plays practically in Notre Dame’s backyard and, supposedly, has the Irish as his favorite. Augusta is also highly interested in the Irish, which could, perhaps, continue their streak of top notch defensive linemen.

Without question, there is a buzz around this Notre Dame team that hasn't been felt in years. Maybe all the way back to the Lou Holtz era. There appears to be a lot more energy and position competition than in years past. And, don’t think the recruits haven’t noticed it, too.

In the end, that only means good things for the Irish. But let’s not make any predictions until the fall, agreed?