Mustipher Impressed with Wimbush and Talks Sibling Rivalry

The offensive line is one of the few units on the team that saw no immediate change this offseason. Sure, they are learning some new tweaks to the offense, but offensive line coach Harry Hiestand is still running the show in the trenches.

Much like the defense, Hiestand has brought a focus on fundamentals to his unit after a disappointed 2016 season. Center Sam Mustipher knows the offensive line didn’t play to its potential and believes the Irish are focused on fixing it this spring.

“We just weren’t consistent,” Mustipher said of last fall. “That’s what we have been focusing on this offseason. Technique, fundamentals, and knowing your assignment each snap. We will continue to work on it for years to come.”

The 6-foot-3, 305-pounder has seen improvement through the first seven practices. The improvement is against the Notre Dame defense, and despite going against familiar competition, the Irish offensive line can tell a good rep from a bad rep.  

“You know when your technique and fundamentals are solid,” he explained. “You know when you’re getting the assignments right and clicking. It’s not a matter of going against anyone; it doesn’t matter who lines up in front of you. You have to do the same job every day.”  

In 2016, Mustipher was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons a few times. The junior battled through the adversity to improve his game, and he couldn’t have done it without his head coach and offensive line coach.

“He as definitely encouraging,” Mustipher said of Hiestand. “Coach Kelly was encouraging. Everyone was encouraging. No one was saying ‘You suck.’ It was about helping me and helping me fix the issue.”

While it wasn’t easy to get through the tough times, Mustipher leaned on his maturation as a man and the fact he didn’t want to be the guy to let his team down.

“It was something that I’ve been hardened at Notre Dame to,” Mustipher said of the negative vibes. “When the situation goes bad, you have to bounce back. You have to figure out what’s going on and fix it. You have to come back and respond each play.

“I had to be a guy this team could count on. It’s something I look forward to every day. I wanted to get it right because my teammates deserved it.”  

The fix was simple for the first-year starter as he had to take his job one step at a time. That means he has to get the ball to the quarterback before he can do anything else.

“It was just thinking about the snap each play,” stated Mustipher. “You have to snap first; then you have to block. Sometimes in the routine of the game, you lose focus with that. It was just getting back to basics and my fundamentals of snapping the football first.”  

This spring, Mustipher has been snapping to a new quarterback. DeShone Kizer is preparing for the NFL Draft, while Brandon Wimbush is figuring out life as QB1 at Notre Dame.

“I love the guy,” Mustipher said of Wimbush. “He’s great. That’s not to say I didn’t love DeShone. DeShone was my guy too.

“Brandon is different than DeShone, and he’s growing into this own. He’s understanding the offense, and he’s doing everything that is asked of him. You can’t ask more from a guy that is in his position. He’s handling everything well.”

With Wimbush impressing his center through the first few weeks of practice and Mustipher looks to continue to build on the positive communication.

“DeShone was loud and vocal,” Mustipher stated. “Brandon isn’t that way. He comes in and gets his job done. He communicates with us and lets us know what we need to do. Brandon comes in and asks me questions.

“DeShone kind of knew going into it. He had more experience than I did. Now, I can tell Brandon what we need to do on this play. He has asked me what I see, whereas, I would ask DeShone about what he saw because he knew all the blitzes and pressures.”  

Mustipher continued.

“I can impart a little bit of wisdom on him,” he said. “Honestly, he’s been imparting a little bit of wisdom on me. There are more things he can see.”

Wimbush isn’t the only guy Mustipher has been giving advice to recently, as his younger brother, PJ, is one of the nation’s top defensive tackles in the 2018 class.

There is a sibling rivalry between the two, and on Friday, Mustipher wasn’t giving many props to his brother.

“It was a lot of fun,” laughed Mustipher when asked if it was a competitive household. “We were pretty competitive growing up, and we still are. We talk trash all the time, and I try to call him as much as I can. We probably talk two or three times a week. I am looking forward to seeing what he decides in the near future.

“He’s definitely taller than me. I don’t know if he’s heavier than me, but he’s probably fatter.”