Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love Embraces the Spotlight, But Keeps His Edge

A year ago, Jeremiyah Love’s name wasn’t known outside the Notre Dame world. 

12 months later, the St. Louis native is a Heisman candidate and RB1 on most NFL mock drafts after rushing for 1,125 yards and 17 scores, while adding 28 receptions for 237 yards and two more touchdowns. 

The noise is loud, but Love’s mindset remains unchanged. He’s focused on doing whatever it takes to win on offense and even special teams.

“I want to do whatever the coaches need me to do,” stated Love. “If they need me to split out wide and run a route, I’m going to do that. Obviously, I'm a running back, so I'm going to be in the backfield getting the ball. You need me to block, I’m going to block.

“I want to be on special teams, because I take pride in being a gunner, just helping out where I can. I'm not just an offensive guy. I'm on special teams, too. I hope that they put me on kick return, too. I want to get involved with that. Just getting more touches in more ways to help the team achieve success.” 

Love provided a glimpse of his electric playmaking ability throughout his freshman season, so Notre Dame fans were well-versed in his speed. 

Love was almost excited to show off his power 12 months ago and the same could be said about showcasing his receiving ability entering this season. 

“I would say I’m excited to showcase more of my receiving ability,” Love said. “Everyone knows I can run. I want to showcase more of my blocking as well. This year, I hope to be more involved in the pass blocking game. But really, I want to showcase more of my receiving ability.” 

A major offseason focus for Love has been his health. After an MCL injury slowed him in the playoffs, he's prioritized listening to his body and preventing setbacks.

“I'm very in tune with my body,” Love explained. “If I'm feeling something, I'll pull up a little bit or be more cautious. Whenever I'm out on the field, I'm going full go, but if there's something in my mind, like if something's not feeling right, I'm making sure that I'm being more technical in my footwork, being more under myself.” 

Communication with Notre Dame’s trainers and strength staff has also been a priority for Love over the last six months. 

“The coaches do a great job of helping me stay healthy. Coach (Loren) Landow, the recovery staff, they're not putting me in bubble wrap, you could say. It's more just communicating. Communication is the biggest thing.

“If I'm feeling something, I communicate that to them, and they'll adjust whatever they need to adjust to help me stay healthy. They'll do that with pretty much everybody. It's not just me, not because I am who I am. They care about us as players and as people. They're going to take care of us if we communicate with them.” 

As for the outside hype? Love hears it along with everyone else, but doesn’t let it affect him.

“From the get-go, I’ve never really paid attention to stuff like that,” explained Love. “It’s cool to hear, but everything lies in my own work. That’s all I really care about. I could really care less about what anyone else has to say. I want to prove to myself that I am who I am. 

“Pretty much don’t listen to it. It can be good, it can be bad. I try to tune everything out.” 

And that hunger to improve hasn’t faded. If anything, it’s fueled Love even more. 

“I'm just a hungry person in general,” said Love. “I'm never satisfied with whatever I get. Like, people talking about Heisman, talking about whatever they want to talk about, I really don't care, to be honest, I go off of my own personal goals. I'm focused on me and what I need to do and that's my biggest driver, for me, just being the best version of myself, living up to my own expectations.

“If that happens to end up with me winning the Heisman or winning the national championship, then that's great, but that's not really like my goal, or whatever people are talking about. It's not my goal. My goal is to be a better version of me.” 

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