Life comes at you fast.
Notre Dame freshman cornerback Dallas Golden went from not seeing a snap in the first two weeks of the season to starting at nickel against Purdue on Saturday, a position he had only started practicing at five days earlier.
“We moved him to nickel last Monday, and for him to put himself in a position to play 60-70 plays, it's a testament to the work he's put into it, but also his ability,” stated Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. “Like any freshman in their first game, there were some ups, there were some downs, but I'm very confident in where he's headed.”
Golden’s first start had more highs than lows. The Tampa native recorded five tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, one interception and had a pass breakup. Purdue completed 2-of-4 passes on Golden for 43 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown late in the game.
What allowed him to have success in his first game action? Golden embraced every piece of knowledge from the coaching staff and Notre Dame’s veterans.
“Really like everything from tackling to guarding people, just from the d-tackle from linebackers to safeties to corner, they all fit in. They all helped me fit in with the scheme. We went over it over and over again until I got it, until I understood it. They talked to me about every single thing I do.”
At Berkeley Prep (Fla.), Golden played just about every position a skill player can play on offense and defense. The only position he didn’t play? Nickel.
Yet, the 6-foot, 187-pounder didn’t feel out of place.
“Just really being on the field,” Golden said of not playing nickel before last week. “It wasn't really like a hard adjustment because I was really prepared. I have guys on the team who are gonna help me prepare, from Coach (Mike) Mickens to DeVonta Smith, Karson Hobbs, Leonard Moore and Christian Gray. They don't play nickel, but they're always gonna help me out and make sure I'm good.”
Mickens has developed true freshman corners at Notre Dame, so it’s not necessarily a surprise that Golden and classmate Mark Zackery IV found their way into the starting lineup.
But Golden is a little different from his peers, as he has freakish, God-given athletic traits, but he’s also more than willing to be coached and coached hard.
“I think his ceiling is extremely high,” stated Freeman. “He is extremely athletic and talented. He's got a lot of playmaking ability. As you watched him in high school, he's probably as good on the offensive side as he was on the defensive side. He is an athletic, athletic player and he wants to be coached.”
There is no better example of Golden taking coaching than his interception, which Mickens had covered with him before he took the field.
“First and foremost, give all glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Golden stated. “Coach Mick talked to me about that play the drive before. He's like, ‘You gotta be there.’ I listened to him.”
It was a promising start, but Freeman cautioned that more growing pains will come as the Golden and the Irish have nine games left on the schedule.
“I talked about the pain that you feel after a loss is there for a reason,” said Freeman. “It's to make you uncomfortable. So you do the uncomfortable things to make it go away. It's no different than Dallas Golden. He gets beat on a ball. It stinks. It's uncomfortable. Put the work in to make sure it doesn't happen again and that's what he's going to do.
“I was really happy, man. I told him when he made that interception, that's delayed gratification. There's a lot more to come.”
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