Coach | "Hard To Find A Guy Like" 2020 Notre Dame Signee Michael Carmody

To Scott Heinauer, Michael Carmody‍ is a throwback.

“He’s not a Me person,” the Mars Area High School football head coach says of Carmody, a 2020 offensive lineman who just signed with Notre Dame on Wednesday.

“He’s not a big social media guy. He’s a team player. I think that says a lot in today’s society. He’s not a big Twitter guy. He’d rather just be a team guy… He’s a great kid.”

While he’s used to the spotlight and doesn’t shy away from it, Carmody doesn’t need it or even really want it.

“That’s not him,” says Heinauer, who notes that Carmody is a 4.0-student. “He’s not that type of guy. It’s hard to find a guy like him.

“He puts a lot of time and effort in and that’s what he’ll do. He’ll do a lot of the behind-the-scenes things. He’ll be there in the weight room and he’ll work hard.”

Heinauer saw many of the same traits in Carmody’s older brother, Robby, who is a Notre Dame basketball player.

“He and his brother are very similar like that,” he says. “They work very hard and that’s probably due to his mother and father, who are very similar. They want to work hard and that’s the way they are.”

Carmody began his football career at Mars Area as a tight end.

“We asked him to move down and play offensive tackle and he did that knowing that probably would be his position in college,” says Heinauer. “He’ll do whatever you ask him to do. You can see that by what he’s been able to do.

“He’s a team player by everybody’s definition. He’ll do whatever you ask him to do.”

Heinauer doesn’t have many concerns about Carmody’s continued transition into an offensive lineman because of his “great footwork.”

“He’s got something that I’m sure not a lot of people have who are offensive linemen have,” he continues. “A lot of offensive linemen don’t have the skills that he has from the basketball court. It translates to the football field. I think that’s something a lot of people fail to look at.

“On the football field, he can do a lot of things that normal offensive tackles probably can’t do. He can pass block, he’s a great pass blocker as well as a great run blocker. He can get to the next level very well. He can do many things. I think his footwork is going to be a major contributor when he gets to Notre Dame. I think that’s going to be the thing that people are going to see and that’s something that’s going to allow him to play sooner than most people expect.”

There will be some schematic differences.

“Notre Dame does a lot of zone blocking, that’s not what we do offensively,” the coach says. “He’s going to have to learn some of the schemes that Notre Dame does, but he’s a quick learner. He’ll be fine. He’s a smart guy.

“He’ll do well, I promise you that. Whatever it is that he needs to do to be successful, he’ll do it.”