Notre Dame Names Five Captains in 2024
Notre Dame named its 2024 captains on Sunday afternoon as quarterback Riley Leonard, defensive lineman Rylie Mills, linebacker Jack Kiser, cornerback Benjamin Morrison and safety Xavier Watts will have the ‘C’ on their chest for the blue and gold this fall.
It’s hardly shocking that the honors would tilt towards the defense, but it also speaks to the job Leonard has done winning the Irish locker room, considering he transferred in January and didn’t participate in most of the spring practice.
Now, it’s worth noting that last fall, Sam Hartman was also named a captain in his first year with the program, so the feat was recently accomplished. Nonetheless, Leonard clearly made quite an impression in a short amount of time.
“He's a great guy,” Notre Dame receiver Jaden Greathouse stated. “Gets to know everybody on the team, so it helps bring all of us that much closer. It helps the offense with our chemistry and all the things that we're trying to get done, like timing and all those other things that are really personnel-specific.”
It's also not surprising that Morrison and Watts hold All-America honors and will lead one of the top defenses in the country. One would be hard-pressed to find a more impactful duo in the nation as they have combined to make 16 interceptions over the last two seasons.
Marcus Freeman often talks about players taking different paths, and both are shining examples for Notre Dame’s head coach. Morrison saw immediate success as a starter as a freshman and made his presence felt from day one. Watts had to demonstrate patience as he worked through multiple position changes, and then it took time to master the safety position before winning the Bronko Nagurski Trophy last fall.
“He just approaches everything like a pro,” defensive backs coach Mike Mickens said of Watts. “His mindset, how he works, how he studies, how he takes care of his body, how he leads. Everything is a pro mindset for him. He calms everything down.”
Mills will make up part of Notre Dame’s heart and soul up the middle of the Irish defense as Howard Cross III completes the duo and gives the Irish one of the better interior lines in college football.
Mills will be in his fifth season with the program and could have easily left for the NFL, but returned to better himself and to lead Notre Dame back to the College Football Playoff.
"A lot of experience, which is good,” Mills said of the defense. “I love it because me and Howard are always on the same page. It's great that in practice we can try new things and work on different ideas and things we want to do. It goes simultaneously. We don't have to sit there, draw it out and be correcting the same things each day. I know Coach Wash appreciates it because we can go out there and execute something he wants and try a new look. That's really helpful."
Kiser also could have left to test the NFL waters, but he returned for his sixth season to show he can run the defense and be a force at the second level.
The Indiana native enters 2024 having played in 53 games and that experience will be key as Notre Dame opens in a hostile environment week one.
“We’re excited about it,” said Kiser. “We’ve played on the road and played in big games before. I’m not going to lie when I was deciding whether or not I was coming back, I did notice Texas A&M was the opening game. It’s going to be really cool.
“If you’re an elite competitor playing college football, you want that. You want to be part of those games and part of those atmospheres. We’re really excited and the team is pumped for it.”
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