It’s always been about focus, weight or a distraction for Jaylen Sneed.
The former five-star prospect has seen the highs and lows of college football and the hardships of going to school 14 hours from home.
The former five-star prospect has experienced the highs and lows of college football and the challenge of being 14 hours from home. But 2025 feels different. The Notre Dame linebacker enters the fall with a renewed focus, added muscle, and no distractions. Perhaps most importantly, peace with his own path.
“Not playing really my freshman or sophomore year, it put it in perspective for me,” Sneed stated. “Everybody’s journey is different. You’re not going to be like Benjamin Morrison, a freshman All-American. You have to stay in your lane and know what your journey is going to be like and you keep working.
“I feel like this experience has taught me to keep working. Whatever you want in life, you’re going to have to work for it.”
The Hilton Head native has always hovered around 220 pounds, which is more than fine in today’s college football, but Sneed’s coaches always knew that if he could add the extra weight, it could take his game to the next level.
Sneed found a way to not only add good weight, but keep it on - even if it meant a few more desserts here and there.
“In the weight room, even during the summer, I felt it,” explained Sneed. “It just feels so good to be bigger, faster, and stronger. Even my speed went up because I've been working with (Loren) Landow on speed training and stuff like that.
“I could just feel the difference on the field. All the off-season work that I put in and all the hard times when I didn't want to eat, but I still ate. It just feels so good to have it pay off. When you're blitzing and you absolutely blow the offensive lineman back, you know that's a different you than a couple years ago.”
In 2024, Sneed appeared in all 16 games and recorded 51 tackles, 2.5 tackles and six tackles for loss. It was a solid level of production, but Sneed was finally able to showcase his play style, which is aggressive and relentless.
It’s a mindset Sneed has had since he was young, as his mother made it clear football was to be played at one speed.
“My mom has always told me that when we're on the field, we give 110 percent and nothing less,” Sneed said. “It's just always stuck with me in my head. Give nothing less than 110 percent. Everything you have on the field, especially with the four-man rotation, I can give everything I have because I know I have a brother to back me up. It's just amazing.”
Speaking of that four-man rotation, Notre Dame will start the year with Sneed, Jaiden Ausberry, Drayk Bowen and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa rotating.
It’d be easy to want more playing time, but all four backers understand the importance of staying fresh, especially coming off a 16-game season.
”I feel like it's a great honor for me to be a part of the four-man rotation,” Sneed explained. “All four of us working together, we all communicate and we can all play with each other. I just feel like it makes our room so much better because, depending on the job or what we're doing, we can put a different body in there if they're better at something or worse. It's just knowing that we all can work together and we all have each other's backs in that LB room. It's just an amazing feeling.”
Now a senior, Sneed is ready for a leadership role. He’s taken lessons from past captains like Jack Kiser and answered Marcus Freeman’s challenge to lead by example.
“I started to feel like I can really be a leader of a Notre Dame football team,” Sneed said of the last year. “Just watching Jack (Kiser), seeing how he carried himself and how he did things and how he led the team, it was just like I saw myself being able to do that, too. Over the last spring, that's when I really started to be able to talk to the guys and be in front of them and not really be nervous because I know they're going to listen.
“Freeman always says they're not going to listen to you if you're not doing the right thing, but if you're doing the right thing, they're going to listen.”
The future is unknown, but it’s very clear Jaylen Sneed believes in himself and those around him, including linebackers coach Max Bullough, have seen a new version of the 6-foot-2, 230-pounder.
”I feel like I'm in a good spot mentally and emotionally,” said Sneed. “I'm in a good spot with the playbook. With Coach (Chris) Ash, I feel like he's coming in, he's just been very on top of us, very meticulous with his playbook. He's just been great to work with. He works with us individually if we ask.
“It’s just been an honor, and I think that's the biggest part for me, mentally, is just the playbook.”
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