Spring Ball Preview | Linebacker

Marcus Freeman was put in a difficult position early at Notre Dame with season ending injuries to three linebackers who were expected to play quite a bit of football for the Irish. Despite those injuries chipping away at the depth and losing a player projected to be one of the top playmakers on the defense, they got through it.

Al Golden looks to be in a better spot with a linebacker group that has plenty of experience returning, is getting back a healthy Marist Liufau, and an injection of young players who could make things interesting this spring.

We can start with Liufau who was clearly on a path to have a great year. He was a consistent playmaker in fall camp and his development was noticeable. He was back practicing before the bowl game and should be 100% this spring.

If he’s ready to build on the promise he showed last offseason, then the sky's the limit for how good he can be. The expectation should be for him to slot back in as the starter at Will and for him to take off under the tutelage of Golden.

Prince Kollie is near the top of the list for the most intriguing players to watch this spring. He unfairly was thrust into a spot at Will because of the previously mentioned injuries. He had repped at Rover in the summer so it wasn’t an easy transition.

He didn’t play much as a freshman, but this could be an opportunity for him to take off and get into the mix with Will as his permanent home.

The starter at Will last year was JD Bertrand, but he should slide back over to Mike this season. The production he had (101 tackles, nine Havoc plays) was impressive for someone seeing his first significant action of his career. Most Irish fans will remember him for the plays he left on the field, though.

It wasn’t the totality of the missed tackles, it was the fact that he had free runs on blitzes and missed too often in the backfield. Playing under better control in those situations could flip a lot of things for him and we shouldn’t expect to see him in sub-packages like he was for most of the 2021 season. He could thrive at his natural position, but he has to win the starting job first.

That won’t be a slam dunk because Bo Bauer has returned for a fifth year. He should once again play a significant role on 3rd downs, which is where he racked up most of his 10 Havoc plays.

Can he finally emerge as the starter at Mike and enhance his role? He has to beat out Bertrand to do so, but they’re likely set up at splitting the position this spring.

What will Notre Dame do with Jack Kiser? He was solid in his first season as a starter at Rover, but his best position might be Mike or Will. The depth chart is more crowded there so we’ll see if that is a deterrent to moving him or if they need to keep him out at Rover. If he stays outside, we’ll see if he can turn more of those perimeter plays into tackles for loss.

He’s a player that no one seems to be talking about this offseason that could end up making a big jump with his play.

That’s a good returning group for Golden to work with and he’ll also have four early enrollees competing there too. It’s safe to say that, barring a move from a safety, either Jaylen Sneed or Nolan Ziegler will crack the two-deep at Rover.

Sneed is the highest rated player in the recruiting class and he has special athleticism. We’ll see if he is ready to make an early impact. A lot could depend on his physical development in addition to his grasp of the defense.

Don’t count out Ziegler from being ready to play as a freshman. He’s already surprised some people in winter workouts and his high school production was ridiculous.

Niuafe Tuihalamaka is going to have a chance to learn a lot behind Bertrand and Bauer at Mike. If the Irish needed him, he’d be on the list of someone who could make noise early if given enough reps. We’ll likely see him flash with his instincts if given enough opportunities.

Last and definitely not least is Josh Burnham. The main question with him is if his long term fit is as an inside linebacker or if he’s better suited to be an edge defender and play Vyper. Step one of finding that out happens this spring, but his ceiling is high at either spot.

It’s a nice mix of veterans and young players with some potential stars at linebacker. It wouldn’t be surprising if this was the strongest position group on Notre Dame’s defense at the conclusion of spring.