From the Mic: Notre Dame's Youth
Notre Dame safety Adon Shuler had a big spring as he showed crucial development on the field, but also the ability to process the game mentally.
Every coach wants to see a player take that step after their freshman season, but some don’t and never make the jump to the next level.
Talent gets players to Notre Dame, but many other factors determine how a player ends his time at this level.
In Shuler’s case, the New Jersey native has always been confident by nature, but his ability to take care of business outside the field has led to him playing with great confidence to start fall camp.
“He’s just mastering the playbook and trying to go from being a young guy to a vet in a hurry,” stated special teams coordinator and safeties coach Marty Biagi. “He does that by his study habits and he’s shown off the field he’s 100 percent bought in. All he cares about every day is just getting better. He’s taking notes constantly. It’s awesome to watch and he’s growing up really fast.”
Shuler would agree that he’s always shown great confidence and he’s quick to credit to his hometown and his high school coach, Smoke Pierre for developing a confident mindset at an early age.
“Coming from New Jersey, I feel we have to be confident in the way we live,” said Shuler. I would say my hometown, Irvington, and my coach, Coach Smoke, instilled confidence. Irvington Tough. I feel I have to have that no matter where I’m at.”
Notre Dame center Ashton Craig might not be a new name to the program as he’s entering year three, but he’s a new starter for the Irish. The 6-foot-4, 308-pounder started the final three games of last season and has run with it over the last seven months.
Craig looks bigger than his listed measurables and will give Notre Dame some much needed size up the middle, yet it’s his leadership that Mike Denbrock highlighted on Thursday.
“I would put him as an ‘example’ guy,” explained Denbrock. “You put the tape on. He's playing physical every snap. He's getting after it. He's playing with a high-intensity level. I think those guys see that. From a vocal standpoint, I think Pat Coogan has done a great job with that. I think [Billy Schrauth] has done a great job with that.”
Running back Jeremiyah Love got his first taste of college football last fall as he ran for 385 yards and one touchdown, while also adding eight catches for 77 yards and a score sharing time behind Audric Estimè.
The St. Louis native will now step into the bright lights as someone Denbrock wants to feature in the offense as a running back and receiver.
“You're watching him on the field, he's just different,” Denbrock stated. “He's explosive. He's got that ability to hit a home run every time he touches the ball. The more of those guys you have, the better chance you have of creating explosive plays. We want to be an offensive unit that's built on explosive plays. And so, him touching the ball the way he needs to touch the ball is going to be a big piece of that.”
Love’s ability to be explosive and play multiple positions, but what does that truly mean? Well, the simple version is it creates a headache for defenses.
“It gives you just another layer of versatility to who you are, and puts you in a position where if you can catch something on tape that you can take advantage formationally or how they're going to cover a back motion out of the out of the backfield or in [an] empty [set] how they're going to try to defend the back in particular,” explained Denbrock. “Use those things to your advantage to take advantage of them.”
Freshman receiver Logan Saldate and safety Tae Johnson were two of the better pure athletes Notre Dame signed in the 2024 class.
In Johnson’s case, the learning curve has been a steep one over the summer. The former four-star prospect hardly played defense in high school, so mastering the playbook, learning techniques, coverages and everything in the middle has been a lot.
Biagi is tasked with catching him up to speed, but he’s not alone as the Notre Dame veterans have also made sure to help with the transition.
“It starts with the playbook like any freshmen,” stated Biagi. “Just getting locked into the playbook. It’s been great to see our veteran guys, X (Xavier Watts), Adon (Shuler), Jordan Clark, Rod Heard II, really help those young guys and try to push them to show how important every rep is and how everything in Coach Godlen’s defense has an attention to detail.”
For Saldate, he will try to break into a loaded jam of experience and production at the slot position. The California native had a strong summer, which likely helped give the staff confidence in moving Jordan Faison to the outside.
Graduate student Jayden Harrison has seen plenty of young receivers during his time in college and he’s been impressed with what he’s seen from Saldate from the time he arrived until now.
"The way he moves is like he's been in college already,” said Harrison. “He's catching on pretty fast."
Under Armour Navy Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2024 Shamrock Series Performance T-Shirt
