ESPN's Matt Bowen | Hulak is a "multi-dimensional" talent

There aren’t many high school coaches in the country who have a resume like Matt Bowen’s.

Originally from Illinois, he was a second team All-American and first team All-Big Ten safety at Iowa before being drafted by the St. Louis Rams. He played eight seasons in the NFL and then transitioned into media where he wrote for several different outlets before joining ESPN in 2015. An NFL analyst covering the NFL Draft and the league as a whole, he’s been a regular on NFL Matchup and is one of the best in the business at breaking down players and schemes.

Bowen brings all of that knowledge from his playing, scouting, and media experience to coaching at Immaculate Conception Catholic Prep (Illinois) where he’s been a defensive backs coach at a program that has won four state championships in the last seven seasons. IC Catholic is also where 2025 Notre Dame commit Dom Hulak‍ plays, so Bowen is very familiar with Hulak as a player and person.

Hulak was offered last March during Notre Dame’s big Pot of Gold day. He later worked out for the coaches at one of Notre Dame’s evaluation camps in June and became an even bigger priority for the staff at that time.

He checks the boxes physically at 6-3 235 with 33 inch arms and was impressive while repping at linebacker and edge for the Irish coaching staff. It all makes perfect sense with the way Bowen praised Hulak’s physical traits and versatility.

“The first thing about Dom, he looks different when he gets off the bus,” Bowen told ISD last week. “Incredible height/weight/speed and movement ability. Powerful on contact. Can play both sides of the ball for us as a tight end/H-back. He can carry the ball like he did as a freshman. He played running back for the JV team. Back then he was like Mike Alstott playing JV football as a freshman.

“He has the lateral speed. Has the urgency to play downhill and he will strike you on contact, so he has the traits of a high-level Power 5 athlete and the versatility, like you mentioned, to play multiple spots on the defensive side of the football.”

Where he best fits at Notre Dame is yet to be determined. The staff has spoken to him about playing the “Money” position that Marist Liufau played last season, which includes lining up as an edge in sub-packages. They have also talked about him playing Vyper and that could easily happen as well. His frame could see him easily project there in the future.

21 of 27 edge defenders who measured in at the most recent NFL Combine had arm lengths of 32.5 inches and above. Hulak already meets that threshold as a high school junior.

Bowen sees both spots as an option for Hulak.

“I do believe he can play as a weakside linebacker, as a stack linebacker off the football,” Bowen said. “You mention playing as a hybrid edge, I can see that as well, especially in sub-package personnel…someone who can rush off the edge, drop back in coverage as a curl/flat defender.

“He has the athleticism to match up to people in space. That’s the key thing with Dom is that he can break down in space and match up to people whether it’s a tight end, a running back releasing out of the backfield. (He can be) physical with the tight end. He does have the length, there is no question about that.”

It may take a little bit of time for the staff to find clarity on Hulak’s position at Notre Dame, but one area where he could make an immediate impact is on special teams. He’s IC Catholic’s kicker and does a great job covering kicks as well.

It’s yet another reason why Bowen is excited about Hulak’s future.

“(One thing) coaches stressed to me during my playing career at Iowa and in the National Football League is that what you can do on special teams tells you a lot about your athletic profile and your physical profile,” stated Bowen. “The ability to play in space, the ability to defeat blockers with your hands, the ability to tackle in the open field. And the ability to play with football intelligence because it’s faster, it’s more violent on kick off and special teams and Dom can do that right away when he steps into the college level.

“And that also is the best developmental tool for football, so I think that would be a great thing for him as he matures as a college athlete and kind of carves out his role on the defensive side of the football.”

Hulak isn’t currently one of the higher rated prospects in Notre Dame’s class, but his ceiling might be as high as anyone they have committed. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that Hulak can reach that ceiling while in South Bend as well. He’s just scratching the surface of his potential on the football field while continuing to play multiple sports.

“Dom plays hockey in the winter and he plays lacrosse. He’s a multiple-sport athlete and that goes back to his physical profile and his physical tools,” explained Bowen. ”To be able to excel at multiple sports and play three sports a year...he plays defense in hockey and I can’t imagine trying to match up with him on the lacrosse field. It wouldn’t be for me, okay (laughs).

“We talk about special teams and now imagine he has a stick in his hand. He has that profile of a multiple sport athlete.”

One might think that Hulak’s busy schedule might preclude him from training for football, but that hasn’t been an issue. He’s a beast in the weight room and Bowen has said that no one on IC Catholic’s team can move weight like Hulak can.

“Whether it’s just the straight power lifts, the explosive movements, being on the platform with the Olympic lifting, hang clean, power clean, push press…he takes it very seriously. He has grown so much throughout our weight program going into his fourth year of high school. He has really developed his body and really developed his ability to be explosive with the weights in his hands.

“That’s the number one thing that translates to the football field, that’s why you do Olympic lifting because it makes you faster. It makes you more powerful. You create more twitch with the push-pull and movement ability and Dom does that daily in our weight room.”

When asked about Hulak’s role for IC Catholic this fall, Bowen made it clear that they are going to lean into Hulak’s versatility as much as possible. He is capable of doing many jobs at a high level on defense and will get to show just how valuable his skill set is.

“The best way to term it is multi-dimensional,” Bowen revealed. “He’s someone who can play off the ball in the box. Someone who can flex outside, we call it our ‘Adjuster’. ‘Adjuster’ is like a ‘Star’, an overhang defender where he can jam and reroute number two (the slot receiver)...match and run in coverage, funnel the ball off the edge in the run game and also pressure.”

For any Notre Dame fans worrying that we won’t get to see Hulak do what he may do most often for the Irish in the future, don’t fret. He should get plenty of opportunities to rush the passer as well

“And I think he’ll play some defensive end as well, whether that is based on offensive tendency or based on our sub-package personnel in true passing situations where he can put his hand in the ground and get after the quarterback because he’s done that before.”

Bowen also made sure to mention that Hulak will be a weapon for them on offense too as a tight end who can also flex out as a power slot. It’s just another example of why he’s such an intriguing prospect.

“There were teams, trust me I talked to college coaches, and some of them had looked at him playing the tight end position in college. So you’re getting a true athlete in Dominik Hulak. A true athlete with a high ceiling who is going to continue to grow his frame and continue to grow his football IQ and really mature as a college athlete.”

Some of this might seem like typical plaudits from a high school coach selling his future player, but outside of the NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks, there isn’t a high school football coach in the country with Bowen’s credentials when it comes to playing the game and evaluating future and current NFL players. He knows what traits are necessary to succeed at the college level and Hulak has the goods.

Not only is he someone who is likely to rise in the rankings as a recruit, he has the tools to grow into an impact defender for the Irish.

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