Lamb Looking To Positives In Tough Situation

Make no mistake, Dan Lamb’s primary concern is the well-being of his son, but that won’t prevent Lamb or his son from trying to find a way to make a difficult situation for them a positive one for others.

Lamb’s son, 2018 Notre Dame linebacker commit Jack Lamb‍, suffered a knee injury in the first game of his senior season for Great Oak (Calif.) High School on Friday night that will sideline him for several weeks.

As tough as the situation is to deal with, the Lambs have already seen a positive in the way Notre Dame has handled it, led by linebackers coach Clark Lea.

“If anything comes out of this misfortune for Jack, all of the other recruits and commits if they read this story about Jack, don’t feel sorry for Jack,” Dan said.

“I want anybody who hears his story to feel really good about Notre Dame, the University, the way they stand behind their players as people, not just as athletes or merchandise. That’s the good that’s come out of this whole thing and we’re blessed to be a part of it.”

After suffering the injury, Jack wanted to get on the phone with the staff in South Bend as soon as possible.

“Jack felt really strong that he wanted to call them right away even though we didn’t have all of the information,” his father said. “When we called them, we had the MRI and the results, so we knew it wasn’t anything serious like an ACL.”

When they got a chance to speak with Lea, his concern was obvious, but it had little to do with Lamb’s knee.

“When we talked to Coach, he said, ‘Hey look, the injury is the injury. It doesn’t change anything with your future with Notre Dame. You’re committed to us and we’re committed to you. Players get hurt all of the time, it’s part of the game,’” Dan recalled.

“He didn’t even talk about the injury. He just wanted to make sure my son was OK. As a parent, that’s extremely comforting, but at the same time, gave us the confidence that when he does go away…that Coach Lea is going to be a guy who can kind of take over for us. It’s awesome to know that.”

Dan called Lea’s response “really comforting.”

“I’ll tell you what, it’s real,” he continued, referring to Lea. “It’s not fake, it’s not a show. Coach Lea is a sincere, kind, loving man. You can tell he cares about his players and that’s super important.”

The Lambs never had any second thoughts about the decision Jack made to commit to the Irish over UCLA, Penn State, Washington and Oregon last month, but the circumstances provided further confirmation.

“There’s something good that comes out of everything, I believe that,” Dan explains. “Now, I feel great, even better, about Jack’s decision to go to Notre Dame and be with Coach Lea, Coach (Mike) Elko and Coach (Brian) Kelly.

“Honest to God, Coach was so much more concerned with Jack and his well-being and state of mind.”

Lamb was reminded by Lea how he first got his chance to become the middle linebacker at Great Oak. As a sophomore, Lamb was a 6-foot-1, 170-pound wideout when the team’s starting middle linebacker went down with an injury and Lamb stepped in.

“They said, ‘Hey, you need to go out there and make plays,’” Dan remembered. “And he did that. Now, there’s somebody else who is going to have that opportunity.

“Coach focused on Jack being a leader and understanding what his role was and how important it was that he coach that kid up and be a leader. He can tell him, ‘Hey, I was in your shoes just two years ago.’ Now, he’s just got to coach the kid and somebody else gets a chance. While it’s disappointing for Jack, it’s exciting for another kid. Jack is super sensitive to that, so he’s accepted that role.”

Dan knows he would have told his son the same thing, but said, “it’s way different coming from Coach Lea.

As for the injury, Lamb remains in strong spirits.

“He’s handling it way better than I would be,” his father laughed. “He’s a tough kid. Obviously, he’s disappointed that he’s not going to be able to really participate at least for the first six, seven games of the season.

“He’s in good spirits and he understands the team needs him, but at the same time, his future is with Notre Dame. It sure was really good to talk to the coaches there and hear how supportive they were and the fans all over Twitter and stuff have been great.”

Lamb is itching to play again, but the family will be cautious.

“Absolutely,” his father said. “We’re going to do whatever the doctors tell us to do and we’re not going to put Jack in a vulnerable position. But when he feels he’s ready to come back, he will.

“He’s a football player. He wants to play and you can’t take that away from him. In the meantime, he’s just got to focus on getting healthy and rehab and being there for his team. He’s the leader of that team.”

The injury wasn’t good, but it was far from terrible as far as injuries go.

“He’s a young guy,” his father said. “Where the injury is, there’s really good blood flow. You can see that with the MRI. It’s non-surgical. He can rehab from the injury naturally and that’s always the best situation for a full recovery. When you start operating, you’re not sure how your body is going to respond.

“It’s not the best of news, but it could be a lot worse. There are a lot of kids out there with a lot worse problems than Jack Lamb.”