2019 CB Salim Turner-Muhammad Leader On, Off Field

It’s easy to understand why Notre Dame is going after Salim Turner-Muhammad‍ and after speaking with his defensive backs coach and trainer, Erik Nowell, it’s even easier.

“He has pretty good height for a cornerback and pretty good length and wingspan,” Nowell said of the 6-foot, 170-pound Virginia cornerback. “He’s quick too.

“He can play any position on the field. If you put him at quarterback, he can win you games. You can put him at receiver and he can you win games. Anywhere on the defensive side of the ball. The kid is a phenomenal athlete.”

Despite Turner-Muhammad’s versatility, Nowell said he’s a surefire corner in college.

“He just gives nothing up, nothing downfield,” the coach said. “With his athletic ability, you need him at corner. Anything that goes up, he’s coming down with it. This year, we put him on an island every time.”

Nowell admits to being stunned to see opponents test Turner-Muhammad on that island this past fall.

“There were some teams who tried it and then there would be an interception,” he laughed.

Turner-Muhammad is scheduled to be in South Bend this weekend for Notre Dame’s Junior Day.

Nowell pointed to Turner-Muhammad’s intangibles as well.

“He’s a leader,” the coach said. “Everyone on defense looks to him and Litchfield (Ajavon) for answers. He runs the secondary.

“On the field, I train those guys every day, but on the weekends I’m not there, I can count on him to get the guys out there and continue to work in the offseason. He doesn’t need someone to tell him. He’ll send me videos of guys working out if I’m not there. The things he does when people aren’t looking are phenomenal.”

Turner-Muhammad also takes his education seriously, according to his coach.

“His grades are great,” said Nowell. “You don’t have to stay on top of him about his grades.

“Just sitting down and speaking with him about where he wants to go to school, he always mentions school first. Is it a good school? We were talking about different colleges and one of the first things he said was, ‘They’re one of the Top 10 schools in the country.’ Most kids don’t say that.”

Not surprisingly, those are the kind of schools Turner-Muhammad is looking at and Nowell said, “Notre Dame is obviously one of them.”