During Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser’s recent meeting with the media, not once did the subject of Friday’s Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl clash of No. 16 ND (9-3) and 19th-ranked Oregon State (8-4) waft into the conversation.
Perhaps it’s because his reasons why the 2 p.m. EST matchup on Friday (CBS) in El Paso, Texas, won’t end up being his final game in an Irish uniform were so compelling.
“For me I guess Notre Dame has always represented a challenge,” the grad senior said after a recent Sun Bowl practice, in the aftermath of his decision to redeem his COVID exemption for a sixth year, in 2024.
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“I could’ve gone to some other schools and maybe got playing time earlier. I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to play the best every week. Academically, I wanted to challenge myself. I think that goes to show in my undergrad and master’s [degrees], making the decision to come back.
“I could’ve gone somewhere [else for 2024] and been locked in to get this much money and this much playing time, but I wanted to stay here. And I feel like there’s some things left to do for me. To push this team (further) and try to reach success.”
Even if that means not knowing yet which of Notre Dame’s three linebacker positions he’ll line up at next season.
“Whatever I can make plays at and whatever will help the defense,” said Kiser, the No. 1 rover during the 2023 regular season who will move inside to the will linebacker position, vacated by Marist Liufau’s opt-out, for the bowl game.
“If that’s something like a rover on some downs and then moving to will or playing mike, who knows? Whatever I can do to help the defense and make sure we can wreak havoc and dominate.”
All the while helping to coax and catalyze around him the most promising wave of young linebacker talent at Notre Dame in recent memory.
In the 23 full recruiting cycles that comprise the Rivals Era (2002-24), Notre Dame has signed six linebackers who were ranked among Rivals’ top 50 prospects regardless of position in their respective classes. Three of them are on next year’s roster — recent signee Kyngstonn Viliamu Asa (No. 22 in 2024), freshman Drayk Bowen (48 in 2023) and sophomore Jaylen Sneed (46 in 2022).
The other three are former All-American Jaylon Smith (3 in 2013), former All-American and Heisman Trophy runner-up Manti Te’o (12 in 2009), and Daelin Hayes (31 in 2016) — classified as a linebacker but recruited to play defensive end, which is where he ended up playing his entire college career and into the NFL.
Viliamu-Asa, in fact, is the highest-ranked player to sign with Notre Dame at any position since Smith 11 cycles ago.
None of the other eight linebackers projected on the 2024 roster will be beyond their sophomore year of eligibility next season, factoring in redshirts.
“I prefer uncle,” Kiser said when asked if he saw himself as a father figure.
“Sneed has really good athleticism,” he continued.” Our goal is to find one-on-one matchups for him to go win. The freshmen, what’s stuck out is their ability to be coached and to learn. [During] bowl prep, they’ve developed so much since fall camp, it’s unbelievable.
“Drayk Bowen is able to go on the field and run the defense. [Jaiden] Ausberry and [Preston] Zinter can come in and run a role and do a job and communicate with other people, whereas in fall camp, you didn’t know what was going to happen with other people out there.
“They’ve come so far. They’re still young kids. They’re still 18 years old, but to realize they have another spring, another summer, and another fall camp before they have a shot to go show the world what they can do. So, it’s very exciting.”
So is seeing some older faces.
All-America nose guard Howard Cross III elected to come back from a sixth year, and standout defensive tackle Rylie Mills opted in for a fifth and final season. Bednarik Award winner and Notre Dame’s first-ever unanimous All-America safety, senior Xavier Watts, is strongly considering joining them.
“There’s so many factors that go into the decision like that,” Kiser said. “But who’s going to line up in front of me and put their hands in the dirt? Who’s going to line up beside me? And who’s going to make the coverage call behind me? That’s a big deal.
“Who’s going to be on the sideline giving the play call? That’s a big deal, because when you’re on a great defense, you look a lot better and you can be a lot better football player.”
Excelling statistically and in film grades, though, has not been the biggest hurdle, though, for the 6-foot-2, 232 former Indiana Mr. Football from tiny-but-mighty Pioneer High School. It’s been opportunity.
Each of the past three seasons, he’s been ranked among Notre Dame’s top 3 defenders by Pro Football Focus, with his 89.8 rating this year being the best among Irish defensive players who played more than 20 snaps on the season.
He was also ND’s highest-rated player in both run defense and pass coverage. In 2022, Kiser had ND’s top film grades in tackling and pass rush. Yet his snaps have diminished from 398 in 2021 to 338 last season to 327 this season. ND’s other starting linebackers have been in the 600-snap range.
That’s in part because the linebacker who leaves the field when Notre Dame is in nickel coverage is the rover, Kiser. Even so, he's third on the team in tackles (59) heading into the bowl game — behind only middle linebacker JD Bertrand and Cross — with a sack, an interception, a pass breakup, a forced fumble and three QB hurries.
“As a competitor, you want to be out there on every play — certainly the big moments, right?” he said. “So, it can be frustrating when it’s fourth down and you’re not on the field, or it’s the fourth quarter with one minute left and you’re not on the field. But that’s just motivating to keep grinding. Keep working harder. When you do get your opportunities, capitalize.”
Even when there’s only the suggestion that expanded playing time could be ahead, not a guarantee, which he could have had by transferring somewhere else for his final season of eligibility.
“When you talk to people that have done that, it’s just another stepping stone,” he said. “For me, that was never in the cards. I can’t really see myself at another school taking different classes, in a different weight room that isn’t Notre Dame.
“Maybe that’s the kind of person I am, but I do understand when guys transfer out for their last year, they’re trying to get playing time and they’re trying to do what’s best for them and make their next step something to catapult off of. But for me, it wasn’t in the cards. It was either moving [to make a run at the NFL] on or staying here.
“[I want to] be on the field, and run the show,” he said. “Be the vocal leader. Be the energy-giver and really run the show and take command of the defense. I felt like I had the capability to do that this year, and I feel like that’s something I can show people I can do.”
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