Injuries sideline veterans, creating vital reps for Notre Dame's emerging linebackers under new coach Brian Jean-Mary.
This has been an interesting spring for Notre Dame at the linebacker spot. They're breaking in a new position coach with Brian Jean-Mary coming over from Michigan and they have a handful of injuries at the Mike linebacker spot which has made spring interesting to navigate. Captain Drayk Bowen, Kyngstonn Viliamu Asa, Madden Fararimo and Kahanu Kia all have injury designations this spring.
The remaining talent in the linebacker room is plentiful, but outside of Jaiden Ausberry and Jaylen Sneed, there's little to no experience at the collegiate level. Jean-Mary has been working hard to develop the youth in the room. Thankfully, the leadership in the room is still vocal and around every practice, and players like Faraimo are just limited and not out completely for spring training.
"The experience he had last year are invaluable," Jean-Mary shared. "Just the little bit I’ve seen from his games and then seeing the little bit that we’ve been able to get with him, you can see the growth. One, he’s more comfortable and two, he knows where he needs to fit. Now it just comes back to the production part.
"He’s very talented obviously, athletic, a big guy that can do a lot of things," Jean-Mary continued. "We want to see him take it to the next level as far as making more plays on the ball and then seeing some of the athleticism show up with some of the blitzes and tackles for loss, sacks and those things.
Behind Faraimo is a lot of inexperience, but they have to be able to take advantage of these opportunities while the veterans are out. Jean-Mary has been emphasizing the value in every practice to learn and grow within the defense while players like Bowen, Viliamu-Asa and others are on the sideline.
"The biggest thing is they have to value the reps," Jean-Mary explained. "Sometimes with young guys, it might take them three or four plays to figure it out and what they’re doing. We just don’t have that kind of time. When the veterans come back and we have a larger room, those reps are going to get cut. It’s the nature of having a lot of talented guys in the room.
"These reps are super valuable for those guys because this is what they’re going to build on when the fall starts and it’s going to be the actual competition phase," Jean-Mary continued. "They have to value these reps; I think they are. They’re eyes are wide open because they’re getting more than they thought they would. But they have to be able to take advantage of it and feel like they did get better and more comfortable in the system."
Linebacker Ko'o Kia, the younger brother of Kahanu Kia, has also been growing this offseason. He's another recruit that's flown relatively under the radar since his arrival on campus. But his growth this offseason has been highlighted by his athleticism and playmaking ability. When the light fully comes on, he's going to be added to the list of players that's difficult to keep off the field.
"I’ve seen a lot of growth," Jean-Mary explained about Kia. "Obviously he’s a talented kid. You can see the athleticism pop off the screen at times. The mindset is always 'we don’t know what’s going to happen next year.' The worst thing that could happen for him and for us is, ‘Well, my time is going to come next year.’ That’s the mindset that we’re trying to drill into them, and I think they’re starting to understand. You have to be ready to play the first game of the year."
Talent has not been the issue for the Notre Dame linebacking corps in quite some time, but the youth has been highlighted this spring due to injuries amongst the veterans. If their number is called this year, they'll have to be ready and Jean-Mary is hard at work getting them ready if, and when, that time comes.
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