Lamb Not Your Typical Mike Backer

People not playing close attention may not realize what Notre Dame is getting in Jack Lamb.

The 2018 California native who committed to the Irish on Thursday isn't your typical tackle-to-tackle Mike linebacker.

"He's the complete opposite," Ground Zero 7-on-7 coach Armond Hawkins told Irish Sports Daily. "He's very athletic. He has hips to turn and run. He's long, athletic. He can run. He has great ball skills as well."

He's more CJ Mosley than Riley Bullough.

In fact, the 6-foot-4, 224-pounder didn't play all that much linebacker for Ground Zero.

"We didn't really play him at linebacker much, we were able to play him at cornerback because he's long and can run and can cover," Hawkins told Irish Sports Daily. "When we first got Jack two years ago, we started training him to cover versus being a linebacker."

Aside from his physical gifts, Lamb has the intelligence to succeed at Mike.

"In a nutshell, he's smart," Hawkins said. "He's a smart kid. He picks things up real quick."

Every high school player needs to work on every aspect of their game to prepare for the next level and Hawkins believes Lamb will make the biggest strides when he gets into Notre Dame's strength program.

"It's not that he's not strong, but once he gets cut, he'll be an action figure," Hawkins laughed.

When he visited South Bend back in June, the Irish coaches talked about adding 15 to 20 pounds to Lamb's frame without slowing him down.

"Easy," Hawkins agreed.

Lamb's athleticism, smarts and frame offer Notre Dame the chance to play him at multiple spots.

"He could end up in the middle, he could end up on the outside, he could end up playing rush end," Hawkins said. "He could end up doing whatever they want."

Lamb is a quiet, mild-mannered young man who doesn't feel the need to do much trash-talking on the field, but multiple sources have told us he has a switch he can flip and when he does, watch out.

His easy-going demeanor would allow him to naturally fit in in locker room and he should fit in with the Irish especially well. He's been taught when he's a member of a team, the team comes first and he's had the opportunity to prove that.

Here at Irish Sports Daily, we've highlighted the fact Lamb was given the advice to be selfish with his decision, but other than that one instance, he's not the kind of kid who would consider an opportunity to help himself if it came at the detriment of his team and he's demonstrated that fact.