New coach Brian Jean-Mary ignites Notre Dame's deep linebacker unit, emphasizing readiness and shared purpose for every player to shine early.
Notre Dame's linebacking corps is expected to be one of, if not the top returning unit in the country this upcoming season. They not only return their two key starters from last season in Drayk Bowen at middle linebacker, but also return Jaiden Ausberry who ended the season starting at Will linebacker. The Irish also return their three key rotational players in Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Jaylen Sneed and rising sophomore Madden Faraimo.
They'll be led by a new face on the coaching staff, former Michigan linebacker coach Brian Jean-Mary who took over for Max Bullough who is headed off to be the co-defensive coordinator at his alma mater, Michigan State. When you return a room as talented and as deep as Notre Dame's linebacking corps, it may be difficult to get everyone involved and on the same page, but Jean-Mary is ready to get everyone involved including the early enrollees.
"The biggest thing that you sell to everybody is you don't know the future," Jean-Mary explained. "I've been places that have been ravaged by injury, so you never know when that opportunity is going to come. You have to go about every day that I'm going to be the next man up. You don't know what the depth chart's going to look like. You don't know, week in and week out, who's going to be available."
"It'd be a wasted opportunity if guys go in there thinking, 'Well, I'm just going to be on the third or fourth team,' because it can turn fast," Jean-Mary continued. "When it does, if you're not prepared, you affect the whole program. So that would be my message to the young guys. You never know when your number's going to be called so make sure you make the best of the opportunity that you have."
Thankfully, it won't just be up to the early enrollees or inexperienced, highly talented players in the room. Notre Dame is one of the only schools, and might be the only school, that returns all five of their linebacker rotation from last season. The film they've put out over the last few seasons has helped give the former Michigan linebackers coach a strong foundation.
"Before you get to know the player, you have to get to know the person," Jean-Mary said. "You can watch tape and you can think they're doing it the way that you want it done. But until you sit down with them and say, what are their thinking? Where are their eyes? What was the game plan that week to kind of really start to think on the same level?"
"You just don't know," Jean-Mary continued to explained. "But we've done everything from watching tape together to going over techniques together. We are going over game plans together and everything that we can do to try to kind of connect and start to be on that same wavelength as far as thought process."
The one unknown, and we really won't have the answer until the season gets here, is how Jean-Mary plans to rotate this talented linebacking corps. When you have guys returning like Bowen, Sneed, Ausberry, Viliamu-Asa and Faraimo who have all played significant minutes or started within the defense, it might be tough for some coaches to balance. But Jean-Mary has experience in that field.
"I've always done that," Jean-Mary said when asked if he has experience rotating linebackers. "I think the best coaching in the world is competition and I don't think anybody here would get complacent, but you have to have guys that believe that they're going to have to play every play in that room and having four or five really keeps everybody on their toes, myself included as a coach."
"To me, when we talk about a rotation, it's got to be a rotation where everybody still plays at a high level," Jean-Mary continued about the linebacker rotation. "If it's a rotation and there's a drop off, now that's when it becomes negative. But if everybody's still playing at a high level and giving you an opportunity to win the game, we'll try to rotate as many guys as possible."
This is a talented roster, no doubt about that. Jean-Mary will be tasked with bringing them along and has a lot of expectations around this season. The talent and depth of talent in this room is undeniable, and it has the opportunity to anchor this high-level defense. If Notre Dame goes all the way this season, the linebackers will be a leading factor.
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