Coach | Quickness, Explosion, Football IQ Separates Notre Dame LB Commit Ellis McGaskin

Much of what makes Ellis McGaskin‍ special is obvious when you watch the 2027 Alabama linebacker’s film; his quickness and explosiveness at 6-foot, 215 pounds.

“His speed to the ball I think is what separates him,” McGaskin’s defensive coordinator at Williamson High School in Mobile, Jon Mitchell says. “Then, when he hits people, it’s like he's trying to destroy them.

“His ability to fly around and his speed to the ball and a quick first step and twitch I think is what college coaches love about him athletically.”

But some of what makes McGaskin special can’t be seen unless you spend real time with him. 

“I think the part that people don't see is his ability to watch film and take it to the game,” says Mitchell.

“A lot of times with players, especially in high school, they don't even like watching film. He not only can watch it but be able to get telltale signs early on of what an offense may be running. I think that helps his ability to play faster.”

McGaskin announced his commitment to Notre Dame two weeks ago over offers from schools like LSU, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon among several others. 

“I think a lot of kids don't really know how to watch film,” says Mitchell. “They'll watch film but they'll be looking for the exciting, big play or they'll be watching a game versus actually studying their opponent.”

But McGaskin takes time to watch film on his own before watching it with the team early to pick up things on his opponents. 

“There have literally been times where he walked in and said, 'Coach, I know every play they're going to run,’” Mitchell says. “And I'm like, 'Huh? I don't even know what plays they're going to run yet. What you got?'”

Of course, those physical traits he’s been blessed with are what launched up all the recruiting boards.

“His whole family was athletic,” Mitchell says. “His dad was a running back, his uncles were running backs. I think one of his uncles actually went off to play college ball at UAB and his dad was a hell of a player too. Both of them were kind of legends in the city. 

“We knew early on when we got him, we knew his lineage, we were like, 'OK, this kid can be good really fast.'”

McGaskin played running back on varsity as an eighth-grader and even rushed for 130 yards and scored a touchdown against the eventual state champions. 

“We knew early on that we had something,” Mitchell says.

But with linebacker Robert Woodyard graduating and heading to Auburn after that season, the Williamson staff decided to put McGaskin in that spot for his freshman year.

“We just lost a guy who was a super-elite, once-every-10-years kind of kid,” says Mitchell. “When we put Ellis at linebacker with his ability to pick up things mentally and physically, it's like every step he was taking early on was correct. 

“When we were seeing some of his early spring as coaches, we were looking at each other like 'There's no way we got this lucky again because we think we got one.' 

“We thought early on, he's ahead of where Woodyard was his freshman year, especially with him being able to run the ball and play linebacker. We knew he was going to take off like he did just because of how fast he is and how big he is.”

Given McGaskin’s football IQ and work ethic, Mitchell expects to see him continue to grow in pass coverage.

“Ellis can diagnose the run with the best of them,” he says. “In the passing game is where I think his ability just to match receivers and his one-on-one coverage skills are things he could probably work on going forward, especially in today's football. You don't have those downhill thumpers anymore. 

“Ellis is already a bright kid, so he already knows, 'Yeah, Coach, I need to be able to cover receivers in high school so I'll be able to cover backs and tight ends at the next level.' That's something that we're working with him on. We try to tell him he got to be able to cover like a cornerback in high school because in college he's going to have to be able to translate that to his game.”

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