But Weis needs some holdovers to step up this summer as well. Here are five players who the Irish needs strong summers from:

1. Paul Duncan: The senior-to-be switches back from right tackle to left and must protect Clausen’s blind side. With prodigy Matt Romine missing much of the spring with an ankle injury and most of the fall with an elbow problem, he’s still essentially a freshman. Incoming freshman Lane Clelland, an exciting talent, is still likely a year away from being physically mature enough to compete. So Weis doesn’t have a lot of alternatives if Duncan struggles.

2. Golden Tate: The sophomore-to-be wide receiver split time between the Irish baseball and football teams this spring, but he made the most of his time with the latter. The converted running back is by far ND’s fastest receiver, but the nuances of becoming a complete receiver have slowed his progress. Irish receivers coach Rob Ianello was determined to change that, and he let Tate run everything but a go route in practices this spring. In fact, his first go route since last fall came in the spring game, a 57-yard completion from Clausen on fourth down that set up the winning score.

3. Brandon Walker: His most impressive kick of the spring was a miss – a 46-yarder in the spring game that hit the left upright and bounced back onto the field. The good news is that had it been a few inches to the right, it would have been good from 56 yards, maybe more. Remember last year’s Navy game, when Weis wasn’t sure the then-freshman kicker had the leg strength to boot a potential game-winner from 41 yards into the breeze? Overall, Walker’s accuracy was not a problem this spring. And if he can show that kind of leg strength on kickoffs, it should improve ND’s sub-par kick coverage stats from last season.

4. Morrice Richardson: The linebacker-turned defensive end-turned linebacker is back at defensive end. He is undersized and hasn’t been a diligent enough student with the playbook, but he did have a game-high seven tackles in the spring game and showed some proficiency in rushing the passer. If he does not show the ability to be an every-down end, then Kuntz, John Ryan and/or one of the freshmen are surely to push past him. But Richardson’s 4.5 40 speed is a nice building block. He’ll get every chance in the fall to prove himself one more time.

5. Evan Sharpley/Dayne Crist: There has to be a strong Plan B at quarterback in case something happens to Clausen. Sharpley spent most of the spring becoming a power hitter for the Irish baseball team and his long-term future appears to have shifted to that sport, but he does have the playing experience to be an adequate backup QB. Crist’s possibilities are enticing. Some project him already as better pro prospect than Clausen, but he is a true freshman and he likely would benefit from sitting, watching and learning than going through what Clausen went through last year.

NCAA rules mandate Weis recede in the spring and summer. So he is counting on leaders to emerge to set the tempo and tone this summer.

“What you need to do is you need the players to take over the team,” Weis said. “If you're ever going to be a championship level team, you need the players to take over the team. And I'm not talking about the inmates running the prison now, but you need positive leadership to take over the team.”

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