Pride Embracing 'Mayweathering' Attitude
There have been several players on the defensive side of the ball come into their own over the last year. Defensive end Khalid Kareem, linebacker Te’von Coney and cornerback Julian Love come to mind, but the biggest might have been cornerback Troy Pride Jr.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder moved into the starting role in the middle of the 2017 season and hasn’t given it up. Pride continued the positive momentum into the spring and might have had the best training camp of any defensive player from what the media saw in four practices.
Confidence was probably the most significant area of growth for Pride, and it starts with a mindset.
“‘Mayweathering’ is living life at your peak and your highest level,” Pride stated. “You do what you do. You can stunt and make it all happen. Swag and finesse is all encompassed inside of ‘Mayweathering.’”
The swagger Pride has brought to the secondary has been noticeable since the spring. More plays have been made, and more chirping with offenses has happened, which has been missing from the Notre Dame defense for quite some time.
“That’s how you play,” Pride said of playing with confidence. “That’s how you think. It’s your mindset. If you don’t do that, then you’ll play stiff, play slow and forget your plays. When you’re confident, you know what you’re supposed to do and know you have to beat the dude across from you. You have to ball. That’s ‘Mayweathering.’”
Pride also believes his attitude towards practice and taking every rep seriously has taken his game to the next level.
“It was interesting because I got to a point where it is just football,” said Pride. “I’m stepping out to practice like it’s a game. I’m playing as hard as I can, and I’m trying to empty the tank every day. If it’s Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. or Tuesday at 4:00 p.m., I’m trying to be the same player every day.”
Notre Dame’s defense was impressive in Saturday night’s 24-17 win over Michigan. It was an impressive debut for first-year defensive coordinator Clark Lea, and Pride noticed a few differences in how he called the game.
“I think it was a noticeable difference,” explained Pride. “We’re a different team, and you have all different plays. We’re a defense that’s going to fly around, and the core group of guys is the same. Play-calling wise, we’re always going to be aggressive. We’re going to swarm.”
As if the Michigan game didn’t provide enough motivation for the Irish, the secondary got some added motivation early in the week as defensive back Shaun Crawford went down with a torn ACL.
“We really rallied around Shaun,” Pride explained. “We want to play this season for Shaun. Rotation wise, we got comfortable with everyone playing and have communicated well. When you do that, you can play fast.”
Saturday’s game against Ball State isn’t getting the national attention of Michigan, but Pride knows it’s a chance to take the next step forward as a defense.
“Everyone likes to think that but it’s any given Saturday,” Pride said of overlooking Ball State. “I’ve never thought another team was easy or not good. We’re going to grind each day to be the best in the country, so when we do that, it doesn’t matter who we play. Ball State, we want to keep our fundamentals together and play well.
“We’re a determined group. We have a different mindset and attitude under Coach Lea. We want to be better each day. I feel like we’re going to continue to progress and up our play.”