Blue-Gold Game draft brings competition out of Notre Dame coaches, players

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Deland McCullough arrived at the Guglielmino Athletics Complex at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to prepare for Saturday’s Blue-Gold Game draft.

That’s how serious McCullough, Notre Dame’s running backs coach and head coach for the Gold team in Saturday’s spring game (1 p.m. EDT on Peacock), took Wednesday’s proceedings. McCullough even wore his Super Bowl LIV championship ring from his days coaching for the Kansas City Chiefs as motivation.

“I told them we’re bringing some championship aura to the whole thing and some hardware to the table,” McCullough said. “One of the guys said, ‘That Super Bowl ring ain’t going to save you in this game.’ I said, ‘I understand that.’ It’s fun to bring out and just get caught up in the moment.”

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After Blue head coach Al Washington, the team’s defensive line coach, offered some comments about the draft from the stage, McCullough gave something closer to a WWE promotion.

“There were no bad choices here,” McCullough said. “We had a plan, executed it completely. I feel great about my staff. I feel unbelievable about my team. And I feel sorry for the Blue squad.”

The Gold team even tried to pull a fast one when drafting specialists near the end of the draft. Long snapper Michael Vinson was already assigned to the Gold team as part of the pre-draft process. But McCullough’s squad still selected Alex Peitsch, the only other long snapper on the roster, with the second pick of the specialists portion of the draft.

“We thought we were going to dangle a carrot and try to get these guys to give up something big,” McCullough said, suggesting his team might be able to get an extra running back. “But we got overruled.”

Instead, Gold was forced to trade Peitsch in return for kicker Josh Bryan. The Blue team picked Bryan in the draft after Gold picked Peitsch despite already having kicker Blake Grupe on its team. Special teams coordinator Brian Mason, who’s a member of the Blue coaching staff, wasn’t having any of the tomfoolery.

“(Mason) wasn’t happy,” Washington joked. “I was right there behind him. I wasn’t happy either. I support my coach. We actually traded to balance it out. We got it resolved.”

Washington’s Blue staff includes Mason, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and safeties coach Brian Mason. McCullough’s Gold staff includes defensive coordinator Al Golden, cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens, wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey and tight ends coach Gerad Parker. Both staffs have their share of graduate assistants and analysts for Saturday too.

Washington wasn’t in the building as early as McCullough on Wednesday, but that’s because he didn’t need to make any late adjustments.

“That’s his problem,” Washington said. “I’ve been working on this about a week. Some people cram. I plan.”

Former Notre Dame running back and current student Jerome Bettis played the role of commissioner of Wednesday’s draft by announcing every pick and taking photos with players and their jerseys after they were selected. Before the draft began, each team was assigned seniors to take part in the selection committees. The complete rosters and results of the draft can be found here.

Because Tyler Buchner injured his ankle away from practice Tuesday, the sophomore quarterback won’t play Saturday. That means junior Drew Pyne will play quarterback for both teams. The offensive linemen will also be able to play for both teams as well, in part due to a lack of healthy depth.

“It was a great environment,” Freeman said of the draft. “Jerome Bettis did an unbelievable job being the commissioner. It was a little bit of fun.

“It’s going to be competitive on Saturday, but I want to have fun. I want our guys to really enjoy this experience of being drafted, take some ownership in the teams they’re on and find a way to win. That’s the competitive spirit that we have.”

SEARCHING FOR VALUE

Safety Houston Griffith left Wednesday’s draft confident in how his Blue team came together.

“I feel like we got the guys who are going to get the job done and are going to compete on a high level Saturday and are going to play with a lot of juice and energy,” Griffith said. “It’s something we need when we go out on that field on Saturday. We got a bunch of guys that are willing to play as a unit.”

One of the biggest surprises of the draft came when Gold selected freshman Jadarian Price as the second running back behind sophomore Logan Diggs. That meant Price went ahead of junior Chris Tyree and sophomore Audric Estime.

“He’s been kind of slept on,” said cornerback Cam Hart, representing the Gold team. “But just watching practice — and you guys will see on Saturday — this dude’s elusive. He has some traits that I haven’t seen here at Notre Dame.”

Tyree has been limited with an ankle injury this spring and was given the designation of questionable for Saturday’s scrimmage. McCullough was happy to take him as the fourth running back off the board.

“That’s a true value pick right there,” McCullough said. “We kind of sandbagged a little bit and pulled the trigger on Chris. Excited about it. I’m not going to over-stress him but definitely going to put him positions to help our team out. Then JD (Price) will get an opportunity to do some great things for us and step up to a bigger role.”

Griffith named sophomore tight end Mitchell Evans as his dark horse pick. Blue took him ahead of junior Kevin Bauman.

“He’s going to be the sleeper pick and he’s going to make some plays on Saturday,” Griffith said. “I’ve been covering Mitch Evans since he got here and he’s been getting better every year. This spring you can see it in the ways he’s finishing plays.”

Hart, who will sit out as he continues to recover from offseason labrum surgery in his shoulder, pointed to sophomore Prince Kollie, the fourth linebacker selected, as his dark horse pick for Gold.

“PK’s been having a wonderful spring,” Hart said. “I think he works well with Bo Bauer and Jack Kiser.”

EXTRA POINTS

• Freeman could have easily tabbed Rees and Golden to be the head coaches for the Blue and Gold teams given their coordinator titles. But by naming Washington and McCullough as the team’s head coach, he put a pair of Black coaches in another position to lead.

Blue-Gold Game head coach might not show up on either’s resume in the future, but the message it sends to the team matters.

“That’s important: representation,” Washington said. “For a team to see that, it’s powerful as well. Everybody is capable to lead. I definitely can see the value in that and take great pride in that.”

• The depth of Notre Dame’s defensive line was obvious in Wednesday’s draft with the position group going 11 spots deep with scholarship players. That made drafting defensive linemen a bit easier for both teams. Washington was pleased with the versatility he ended up selecting for Blue with Rylie Mills, Jacob Lacey, Alexander Ehrensberger, Joshua Burnham and Jason Onye.

He appreciated that defensive tackle Howard Cross III was selected as the first overall defensive lineman by Gold.

“It was cool to see Howard Cross go first,” Washington said. “He just had a hell of a spring. It’s great to see him be recognized.”

• Trainer Rob Hunt provided official injury designations ahead of Saturday’s scrimmage.

Out: Buchner (ankle), Hart (shoulder), wide receivers Avery Davis (knee), Joe Wilkins Jr. (foot) and Henry Cook, offensive linemen Jarrett Patterson (chest), Pat Coogan (knee), Billy Schrauth (foot) and Joey Tanona (concussion), tight end Cane Berrong (knee), defensive linemen Jayson Ademilola (shoulder) and Aidan Keanaaina (knee), linebackers JD Bertrand (wrist) and Colin Gutzmer, and safety Eddie Scheidler (leg).