DL Gabe Rubio Bringing Old School Mentality to Notre Dame
Notre Dame defensive lineman Gabe Rubio has seen his playing time increase quickly this fall. The 6-foot-5, 295-pounder cracked into the rotation against North Carolina, but then a few injuries and Jacob Lacey’s departure paved the way for even more snaps.
Every player craves more playing and Rubio knew he had to work to get it as Notre Dame has a deep defensive line rotation.
“I feel like I really just put my head down to the grindstone and just worked,” Rubio said. “Hard work really pays off, but you don’t see it for a long time. Keeping up with all the guys in college was a stepping stone I needed to overcome.
“The only way to overcome it was through hard work. I’m not the sole successor from it. I’m helping push my brothers. They’re helping push me. It’s really a team thing. you can’t have 1 vs. 11. You have to have 11 guys pushing against 11.”
Football was always in Rubio’s future as his father, Angel, played in the NFL and XFL after playing college ball at Southeast Missouri State.
The lessons started early for the St. Louis native as his father put on tape for Rubio to watch, even if his son had no idea what he was watching at the time.
“My earliest memory was my dad sitting me down in the living room through some old teaching tape of him when he was back in college doing all these drills,” recalled Rubio. “At the time I had no clue what they were for.
“As I’ve grown as a player and as a person, I can see the drills he was doing were similar to the drills we’re doing right now. So very little has changed in that regard. Technique has always been a big emphasis whenever I was learning.”
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden has seen growth from Rubio in recent weeks and is gaining more and more trust in the former four-star prospect and graduate transfer Chris Smith.
"I feel like they're both really coming on,” Golden stated. “They're doing a really nice job. They're both really strong, They can anchor in. They both run to the ball really well and they're trying to get better every day. So, we have a lot of confidence in those guys right now. And they bring us a lot of power inside, which is nice."
Rubio comes with an old school mentality as he’s relied on coaching from his father and former college defensive line coach Pete Jenkins, who coached at LSU, USC and the NFL. In fact, Rubio made sure to get to Louisiana during high school to train with Jenkins.
The old school thought has not only given Rubio a mindset with his play but his look on the field as he rocks the middle bar.
“I see all these guys, some of my heroes are from the ‘80s, the ‘90s, wear that facemask,” explained Rubio. “Like Bryant Young, Reggie White, John Randall, all those guys, just the way that they play sparked something for me.”
Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington has even given Rubio the nickname Barbarian. The nickname is a play off of Rubio’s facemask and style of play the sophomore brings to the defensive line unit.
“He got the nickname based off of my middle-bar facemask,” said Rubio. “He was like, ‘Man, you must be a rough and tough dude if you’re rocking that thing. Not many people rock that anymore.’ He was just ecstatic that someone was keeping that old culture alive.”
Rubio isn’t the only one in Washington’s room that has a nickname as the first-year Notre Dame assistant has made it a point to give our nicknames to keep things light.
“Every guy in the D-line room has a different name,” stated Rubio. “Basically, he just brings in the energy. With those nicknames, he always says something new, something out of the norm, so to say. Just a very high-energy coach, always screaming, yelling, running, everywhere he goes.
“Savage, think it was Nana actually. Other than that, it’s just Baller, Shot Caller.”
Washington doesn’t just call Rubio the Barbarian because of the facemask. It’s also due to the toughness and work ethic Rubio brings to the field every day.
"To be honest, just consistency,” Washington said of Rubio’s development. “It's a work ethic. It's fundamentals and development. Like from the spring to now, this guy's getting better and better. And he's not anywhere close to being a finished product, but that dude, he's a good player.
“He provides that toughness, that size. Him and Chris Smith — Chris Smith is another one. This guy's, pound for pound, really explosive, and they've done a phenomenal job. Yeah. Rubio being a young guy, I'm very pleased with how he's progressing."
The nicknames and facemask are nice, but Rubio knows he needs to continue to improve and it starts with perseverance, which is something he learned from his father.
“It’s been embodied into me because where we’re from,” said Rubio. “We don’t like quitting. Quitting is like a cardinal sin basically in our house. You always have to persevere, no matter what. Whether you want to quit, you don’t feel like it, you always have to do it just the see the outcome of your labor. His perseverance has definitely been a big thing. He’s battled through injuries, concussions, all of the above. He broke his femur in two places, I think.”
Rubio also still gets valuable insight from his father following games, which is taken to heart.
“Whenever I’m doing something wrong, he just reminds me, yeah, you have to drill this over and over and over again before you start to get it right,” said Rubio.
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