Driven by a national championship dream, Jaylen Sneed returns for his final year, aiming to elevate his game and lead Notre Dame's dominant defense.
The outlook on the Notre Dame linebacking unit is the highest it's been in quite some time. Yes, they lost former position coach Max Bullough to his alma mater, Michigan State, but they return all five of the players that were in rotation or started from 2025 and made a strong hire in former Michigan linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary. Amongst the host of returning players is fifth year senior Jaylen Sneed.
Sneed was one of the highest rated players in the 2022 recruiting class; the South Carolina native enters this season as one of the most experienced players on the entire roster and has been making plays for the Irish defense since his freshman year. Coming back for his final year of eligibility ended up being an easy decision for the outside linebacker.
"All my guys stayed," Sneed explained. "I just know in my heart that we have a chance at winning a National Championship. That's been my ultimate goal since I got here. Coming back for this fifth year, I felt like this is probably one of our best teams I've been a part of, especially with all the people on offense and all the people on defense coming back. I feel like it would have been stupid of me not to come back and try to play for a national title."
Despite heading into his fifth season at Notre Dame, there's another level Sneed can reach in his game. Jean-Mary had them do an interesting drill this offseason called 'partners' where they team up with a fellow linebacker and they talk through with each other what they need to work on. Sneed has some big takeaways from that drill.
"We basically tell each other what we can get better at," Sneed shared. "Jaiden Ausberry and I were partners. Basically, he told me I need to get better with my footwork and then finishing on plays. Finishing tackles inside-out, keeping my feet apart, making sure I'm shuffling, making sure I'm coming downhill the right way and stuff like that."
Sneed has taken well to his new position coach despite having a long-standing relationship with Bullough who is now the co-defensive coordinator at Michigan State, an opponent Notre Dame will face this regular season. It's a different style of coaching, but Sneed and the rest of the linebacking unit is growing under Jean-Mary.
"He's been adamant about us getting better," Sneed stated. "He's been adamant about it not being last year and ways we can get better. He's been adamant about us meeting and really learning the little things. He wants us to learn formations and what the quarterback does and what the offensive lineman are looking at. Small things like that have really helped me."
There's a lot of stake for the Fighting Irish this upcoming season. They're one of the favorites to win a national title, they have a returning Heisman trophy contender under center and they're one of two teams at the Power 4 level with the best odds to go undefeated in the regular season. For Sneed, those things would be an added bonus to focusing on team glory.
"The ultimate goal is the NFL and winning a National Championship, but that's not what success is built on," Sneed explained. "I feel like being able to play to my best ability and also getting my teammates to play to their best ability is the ultimate goal."
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