LB Jaylen Sneed Reflects on His Notre Dame Journey Ahead of Senior Day
The road to Senior Day is never simple.
College isn’t easy. College football is tough. Life is tougher.
Jaylen Sneed bet on himself and Marcus Freeman when he committed to Notre Dame. The road hasn’t always been smooth, but Sneed has matured and learned to embrace the struggle.
“I feel like it teaches you a lot just to go through hard things in life,” Sneed said of Notre Dame. “Nothing's going to be easy, and through the struggles, you learn the most. I felt like that's a big teaching point of what I learned here.
“You're going to struggle, but it's how you get over it and how you get through it. Then what you learn from struggling is what teaches you something.”
When the Hilton Head native arrived on campus, Sneed knew he’d be challenged on and off the field at Notre Dame. There were expectations to attend class and then put in extra work in The Gug to catch up to a veteran linebacker room.
Sneed will be the first to say there were dark days in South Bend, but he continued to push.
“I always thought I would make it through the football part, but the school part was definitely hard,” Sneed explained. “There's definitely sometimes where I felt like I was drowning in the school and with football and then everything piling on top of it. It definitely was hard. That sophomore and junior year, those are definitely two of my hardest years.
“I feel like now that I've learned and I've failed and I've struggled, I'm better now and I feel like I've learned so much since I've been here.”
One of those lessons learned as been about team glory. Sneed is one of many Notre Dame linebackers who could be starting and playing many more snaps elsewhere.
Sneed has 30 tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks on the season, which is just fine with him as Notre Dame is winning football games.
“I knew coming into the year that we have four of us who are talented,” stated Sneed. “We played a lot last year, so I kind of knew it was going to be a rotation. That was never a thought in my mind about the rotation or anything. I always wanted those guys to play. I know they want me to play. Whatever two are on the field, we're rooting for them and we want them to do their best.”
Notre Dame’s staff has also leaned into versatility to get more linebackers involved. On third downs, Sneed and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa slide down to rush off the edge and even work with defensive line coaches Al Washington and Nick Sebastian during the week.
“We go with Coach Wash every Tuesday and Wednesday before practice,” Sneed said. “We try to get with Coach Sebas just to work our hands a little bit, just to get a couple extra get-offs. We know we can affect the game in that way, especially on third down, third and long. We know it's the money down. That's where you make the money at.”
Another important presence in Sneed’s development has been classmate Tre Reader. The two arrived together, became close friends and stayed that way even after Reader was forced to medically retire from football. He now assists as a coach and in recruiting.
The linebacker room has embraced Reader as a coach, even though he’s a peer, as they quickly learned he was there to help them get better.
“We were best friends since we got here,” Then him transitioning into that role, I just felt like all of us just accepted it. We know what happened to him with the surgery and stuff like that. I know that was hard to go through, especially being a football player and it ending all so suddenly.
“He really does want to be a coach. That it's not just about because he couldn't play football anymore. He wants everybody to get better. He just shows us that. He'll text me late at night and send me a play and be like, ‘Oh, you could have done this better or this or this.’ I just appreciate him so much.”
As for Senior Day, Sneed hasn’t had much time to process the moment. It didn’t even register until this week that he was officially a senior.
“The coaches have been talking about this week being for the seniors,” explained Sneed. “It hit me the first time he said it. I’m trying to keep my mind off of it and play for the rest of the seniors.”
Sneed, who graduates in December, still has another year of eligibility, but he hasn’t made any decisions on whether he’ll return, enter the portal or explore the NFL Draft.
“I haven’t really made the big decision yet,” said Sneed. “I’m just worried about Syracuse right now and the week ahead.”
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