James Laurinaitis Adjusting to Notre Dame & Embracing the Grind
James Laurinaitis wasn’t on too many lists when it came time to see how Marcus Freeman would fill out his first staff in January.
Yet, Laurinaitis made a ton of sense and even more sense when Freeman hired him as a graduate assistant as the former Ohio State linebacker and NFL great simply wanted to start his coaching career.
Eight months later, Laurinaitis has adjusted well to life in South Bend, including learning how to handle the lake effect snow.
"It's awesome,” Laurinaitis said on Monday. “I worked out here as a junior in high school, so it's not my first time up to South Bend. It's great once you're around the people and the tradition. You get to see the campus and how beautiful it is.
"When I first got up here in January, there was a whole lot of snow. You learn real quick it doesn't necessarily have to be in the forecast. It will just pop up.
"I've enjoyed it. We have really good people on this staff and it's been a great experience."
Why Notre Dame? It’s simple. Marcus Freeman.
Laurinaitis arrived at Ohio State a year after Freeman, but the two became close immediately in 2005. Freeman suffered an injury in the first game of the season, which paved the way for Laurinaitis to start and then become one of the best linebackers in Buckeye history.
Freeman was named head coach in December and then gave Laurinaitis the opportunity he had been craving over the last few years.
"I don’t know,” Laurinaitis said of why Notre Dame over Ohio State. “I had been thinking about coaching ever since I retired. At first, you need to take a breath to see if you're interested in anything else and then realize you miss being around the locker room and miss ball.
"You're looking for the right situation. I tried the last few years to get into coaching. As you know, a lot of it is timing as well. I had been in contact with Marcus since he was at Cincinnati. I contacted him through this last fall, assuming he'd be the defensive coordinator still - and things happened. An opportunity presented itself and I'm grateful he put trust in me to bring me on board."
After Laurinaitis was hired, he needed to figure out what type of coach he wanted to be. The first steps he dialed in on were consistency and communication.
"I think you have to be consistent,” Laurinaitis explained. “I always think when you're a player, all you want from your coach is consistency. That's why Bill Belichick is one of the best and comes to mind. The stories from guys I know that played in New England, Tom Brady was getting treated the same as the guy who was a practice squad player trying to make it. If you screwed up in front of the team, Tom would get corrected and so would others.
"As a player, I respect that. If you see someone that's a star player and he's jogging to the ball and yet I'm jogging to the ball and I'm the one getting yelled at, but he's the star and you don't tell at him - it's just consistency.
"If you don't have answers, it's OK to say I don't know and I'll get you one. You have to be 100 percent honest and push them. Hopefully, they start to trust you and understand how much you care. I love young people and the game of football. I'm here trying to help these guys achieve their dreams."
The next step is simply embracing the grind. It’s not easy to be a GA as it can be humbling, but Laurinaitis has embraced it all.
"I think there have been former players who have gotten into this profession and haven't realized or respected what the grind is all about,” said Laurinaitis. “You see a lot of players who think they want to coach and step into it and all these hours are intense. They get out and there can be a bad reputation.
"With most former players, who call and say I want to coach, the first thing people say, 'Is are you sure you want to get into the grind?'
"I was just thankful for the opportunity Marcus gave."
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden has seen it all during his career, so Laurinaitis impressing him carries significant weight.
“A lot of experience,” Golden said of what Laurinaitis brings to the program. “He’s really, really smart. He’s going to be a great coach. Enthusiasm. He can play from the mind’s eye. He’s got great insight and perspective in terms of how to see the game from playing linebacker. He’s just great with the kids. We’re blessed to have him.”
Part of that experience Golden references is the fact Laurinaitis knows what each kid on the roster is going through during preseason camp. It’s not easy, nor is it fun all the time, but Laurinaitis knows that and can push the right buttons at the right time.
"Marcus shared this with the team already,” Laurinaitis said. “It was a quote that says, 'The problem is you think you have time.'
"You don't. I've been there. You make a mistake early in camp and you think it's all good and we'll get it right. No. We don't have time. We know the team in Columbus is grinding and we know how talented they are.
"We need to eliminate those little mistakes. It's the sense of urgency of not letting that set in. We have such good leaders that we don't have a lot of that."
The Notre Dame linebacker room quickly accepted Laurinaitis into the unit. Laurinaitis is a name each player knows, but he’s also made the effort to get to know each one of his players.
"We have a really smart group,” stated Laurinaitis. “Honestly, Al and I are so lucky to have guys who have seen a lot of football. They've got a lot of good coaching. You can tell they've been well coached before and it helps when you're jumping into it and you're learning as well.
"I wasn't here last year. You're trying to figure it out. There's a lot of ways to play a lot of these coverages and schemes you've been in. They take it so easy from our meetings in the afternoon and at night, they're great on the grass. They can do it. They're good leaders."
Laurinaitis will be tasked to help develop linebacker Marist Liufau. The Hawaii native was on the path to becoming one of the nation’s best a year ago, but an injury in camp cost him the entire season.
Liufau is now back and Laurinaitis has been extremely impressed with what he’s seen so far.
"You'll feel Marist when live periods come up,” laughed Laurinaitis. “What I love about him is you have to reign him back because we have to be able to practice and protect your teammates. The sky is the limit with his potential.
"He's long and he's able to be on the ball, off the ball, play in space and he's smart. I love his attitude. Today, he came up to me and said, 'Hey. Make sure if I'm not bursting to the ball, let me know.'
"It's a constant commitment to want to be better. Some of that is obviously what happened a year ago with the injury, but it's all about making sure he's fully locked in day in and day out. He's been great. The potential with him - he's a special talent."
Sophomore linebacker Prince Kollie has also benefitted from Laurinaitis’ coaching and the Notre Dame GA feels the Tennessee native has the tools to be a special player.
"You talk about natural instincts,” said Laurinaitis. “I think you could put PK out there and him not even know the defense and have him just react. When you try to find somebody in recruiting, you can tell guys who can see it off the ball. Playing stack linebacker is not easy. When you have all these jet motions, people pulling and now you have these orbit motions, where do my eyes go? Prince is just so patient and he can just find it.
"He has grown tremendously from the spring to now. Gosh, when I tell you there are five or six guys that deserve to play, it's exciting. It goes back to why I say we're so lucky to have these smart and very talented guys in the room."
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