AAB Coach: OL Sullivan Absher Will "Fit Right In" At Notre Dame
SAN ANTONIO - Rick Garretson didn’t need anytime at all to think of what to say about Sullivan Absher after a few days of coaching the 2023 Notre Dame offensive line signee down here at the All-American Bowl this week.
“Big, athletic, can run, good high football IQ, can play inside, can play outside,’ said Garretson, head coach of Chandler High School, who is coaching the offensive line for the West squad.
“Just, 'Coach, let me know what you need and what you want to do.' And he has got leadership skills too.”
Garretson didn’t see many signs of the 6-foot-7, 305-pounder playing in a primary running offense at South Point High School.
“You would never know that he came from a program where that was the offense,” the coach said. “He and I talked a little bit about it and the skills.
“I told all eight guys we've got, whoever they've been with has done a really good job of prepping them with mechanics and technique and football IQ. I'm not going to say they're on autopilot; counter is counter and inside zone is inside zone and power is power, but they all have a really good understanding of how those plays work and how they all sync and work together. He's done great.”
Garretson felt Absher adjusted to the speed of the game against elite competition “very well.”
“It's amazing because as a coach, you preach when you go inside run or team that you don't want people on the ground and everybody stays up,” he said. “There has not been anybody on the ground in the three days that we've been here, whether it's East vs. West, whether it's inside run, whether it's team. It just shows the athletic ability and athleticism of all the players here.
“But yeah it's like I told him, 'Your speed level's going to go up again when you go to South Bend and eventually things slow down and develop and go out and compete.”
Still, like every football player, Absher has room to improve.
“Probably just the knowledge of certain schematics, what he's not used to, but that's why they pay all the guys at Notre Dame a lot of money to teach him those skills,” Garretson laughed.
“He'll fit right in. I know he is a really good student too, so. You can't not be a good student going to Notre Dame, right?”
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