Nana Osafo-Mensah Believes Notre Dame Can Shock the World
It’s year five for Nana Osafo-Mensah and there is quiet confidence around the program when speaking of the Texas native.
Yes, there are other players on Notre Dame’s roster who have been more productive than Osafo-Mensah’s career 28 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks, but almost every defensive lineman mentioned his name when it comes to chemistry, leadership and impressing through the first week of fall camp.
Could it be Osafo-Mensah has simply grown into the role? Sure, but it’s also evident he’s embraced his role despite Notre Dame bringing in graduate transfer Javontae Jean-Baptiste. Osafo-Mensah has also seen several different teams while at Notre Dame as he’s been to the playoffs and gone through Marcus Freeman’s first year.
“I’ve definitely been here for a while now since January 2019,” stated Osafo-Mensah. “I’ve seen how different teams have been, how they come and go, how different guys have come and gone throughout the program. I have a better understanding of when you have the hard times.
“If you’re a younger guy not getting as many reps as you want to being an older guy and getting more responsibilities within the defense. A lot of guys have been able to really trust me and be able to rely on my advice to get them through things. I’ve been able to really take advantage of that and show the guys that I’m here for them whenever they need me.”
The ability for the 6-foot-3, 264-pounder to be available for his teammates isn’t lost on them, but defensive line coach Al Washington has seen his growth off the field.
”I think Nana is a foundation to our unit,” said Washington. “A foundation to our defense. He is one of the few guys I’ve ever been around that has the natural talent to lead. People are (drawn) to him. They’re moved by him, man. We say leaders have to be seen, heard, and felt. That’s Nana. I challenged him this off-season to really develop that talent and he’s done that.”
Leading, mentoring and making plays on the field has all led to positive vibes in the locker room. Yes, it’d be very easy for Osafo-Mensah and other veterans fighting for reps as their career winds down to be selfish, but that’s not the case.
In turn, it’s led to what some have called the closest Notre Dame team they’ve seen in recent years and it starts from the top down.
“I really love how close this team is in terms of the ages of different players, the position groups and everything because this team is full with so much talent,” Osafo-Mensah explained. “So much young talent and so much old talent. You have guys that are sixth years. You have guys that are still 17 years old and fresh out of high school.
“Everybody can go up to anybody else and talk to them. We truly have a brotherhood. We truly have a friendship here with everybody. Even between the coaches. The coaches are always emphasizing that they have an open-door policy. I can go talk to Coach (Marty) Biagi and joke around with him, and I’m not even on special teams. Stuff like that. Being able to really have a true connection with the coach has been a huge different factor on this type of team we have this year.”
Boubacar Traore and Brenan Vernon are two freshmen Osafo-Mensah has mentored and taken under his wing this summer. Traore is his camp roommate and it appears both have taken his advice to heart.
“They’re guys that definitely love the game of football,” Osafo Mensah said. “Brenan Vernon is one of the most violent freshmen I’ve ever seen come through here of all time. Boubacar is my roommate right now in camp. He’s a guy who is always in his playbook, studying and trying to find ways to work.
“They’re both guys who are hungry and I know when their time comes in this season or in their time at Notre Dame, they’re going to make a big impact.”
And yes, it’s not all about team building. Osafo-Mensah flashed a year ago and he’s carried that momentum into the offseason.
“On top of his dependability on the field, what he does off the field, we couldn’t do it without him,” Washington stated. “To me as a coach and I don’t just speak for myself, it’s all the coaches. He is a huge part of this culture and huge part of what makes this thing go.
“So yeah, you’re right. Not enough people are talking about him but what makes him special is all he cares about is his team and building upon every day.”
Osafo-Mensah expects to have a big 2023 and it starts with his ability to get to his targeted weight as that has given him more confidence to play outside or even inside.
“My favorite thing I did was put on the weight I wanted to get to,” said Osafo-Mensah. “Last year I was playing around 248, 250. But I was really able to get to a consistent 260 now. Being able to have the extra weight on me and still being able to maintain my speed and gain strength has been my biggest improvement.
“Now I feel like I can do anything in terms of playing on the edge, playing inside more as three-tech or something like that. I really feel like that weight’s going to really help me with my versatility going forward.”
The flashes of 2022 perhaps gave Osafo-Mensah the motivation to push himself in the offseason to reach his goals. Osafo-Mensah not only made plays a year ago, but he got the taste of making plays and contributing to wins.
“It definitely gave me a lot of confidence because it was really my first time being able to get on the field, get some crucial minutes and make plays to help my team,” Osafo-Mensah explained. “I can carry everything I did last year and escalate it more and more this year, especially with being a leader too.
“I have guys who are really looking up to me — like the young guys who are really trying to get to where I’m trying to be. I know I want to ball out every game for them. I want to ball out every game for everybody on the team because we put in so much work from January to now.”
One reason Osafo-Mensah was able to stay patient was taking words from Matt Balis to heart. Balis pushed him and others to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the weight room and to make his impact felt in other ways if he wasn’t on the field on Saturdays.
Balis might not be in The Gug anymore, but his advice and message is still being sold to younger players by Osafo-Mensah.
“Sometimes we get caught up in being impatient to get on the field, especially if you were coming out of high school as a very high recruit,” stated Osafo-Mensah. “Some people just have that feeling of: I want to play. I want to play. I want to play. And they’re quick to leave.
“Everybody has their own process and their own beliefs, but at a place like Notre Dame that can offer you so much outside of football like the great education, the great connections you can really see how great that so many other things have come out of an institution like this. I really take a lot of value and a lot of pride in Notre Dame because I feel like it’s the best university hands downs. You can’t really get this opportunity with a combination of football anywhere else. That’s definitely something to keep passing on to young guys.”
Osafo-Mensah will enter the fall with a political science degree and a master’s in business management. He’ll be in a non-degree seeking graduate program and that will allow him to prioritize football for the first time in the fall and Osafo-Mensah hopes to achieve a few goals he’s set.
“I just want to be remembered as a leader that really took us to a national championship this year,” said Osafo-Mensah. “That’s my biggest goal. I’m trying to make this a big season for me. I really want to be able to go out and lead these guys in that direction. We have so many people that have come in. We’ve had guys that have left.
“This whole team is a new identity, but it’s not anything that’s unfamiliar with anybody. I truly feel like this is the team that can really take it all. This is the team that can really shock the world. We’re just ready to prove that.”
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