SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Adon Shuler has proven this spring that he’s not a placeholder.
The sophomore-to-be has been running with the first-team defense at safety alongside Xavier Watts as Notre Dame approaches Saturday’s Blue-Gold Game in Notre Dame Stadium (1 p.m. EDT on Peacock).
Shuler might not be able to hold onto that starting role for the season opener at Texas A&M on Aug. 31. That’s because the Irish recruited Northwestern’s Rod Heard II to potentially fill that spot once he completes his graduate transfer this summer.
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But while Heard can only watch spring practices, Shuler has been on the field making plays like his scrimmage-ending interception of quarterback Steve Angeli on Saturday. As Angeli tried to throw to his right down the field, Shuler made a leaping catch underneath to secure the defense’s 50-32 victory.
Earlier this month, Shuler credited Watts, who intercepted seven passes last season, for showing him how to make so many plays on the ball.
“Xavier, he’s always next to the ball, especially in the pass game,” Shuler said. “So, learning that from him, like kind of seeing what he does on the third level is amazing. So, just kind of getting that and seeing just how he plays with the quarterback is something I’ve been learning from him a lot.”
All Shuler could do last spring was learn. After he arrived as an early enrolled freshman, Shuler needed to have shoulder surgery, which kept him out of spring practices. Shuler experienced culture shock as he watched his new Notre Dame teammates dive deep into their playbooks.
Notre Dame didn’t need to use Shuler much last season. He redshirted by playing in only four games prior to the Sun Bowl. And he totaled six tackles in those five games.
The former three-star recruit from Irvington (N.J.) High continued to embrace the strength and conditioning program during its transition from Matt Balis to Fred Hale to current director of football performance Loren Landow.
“Coach Landow and the coaches there did an amazing job this offseason getting us right,” Shuler said. “I feel faster. I feel stronger. I think the workouts that we do kind of have a different structure than we did with Coach Balis.
“I felt amazingly strong with Coach Balis, even after coming off a shoulder injury. But, just with Coach Landow we work a lot more speed stuff. So, it’s good both ways. They’re both really good.”
Staff transitions have been a theme for Shuler’s young Notre Dame career. The Irish also lost safeties coach to Chris O’Leary to the Los Angeles Chargers earlier this year. Cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens expanded his responsibilities to also include safeties.
“I was sad, of course,” Shuler said of O’Leary. "He recruited me my whole time here. But the conversation I had with him was, I’m still in a great place and Coach Mickens is going to take care of me. He's been doing that, so I really can’t complain.”
The 6-foot, 198-pound Shuler doesn’t seem like the complaining type.
“The big thing with Adon that you admire is like he's just not going to be outworked,” said Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden. “He's just got that blue-collar mindset, and he's always in the building. He's always trying to be better. He's ultra-competitive. He loves the game. He's fun to communicate with.
“So yeah, I mean those are all those are all great traits. You need those things to be a good safety, and he's going in the right direction, and we're excited about that.”
Though Golden and special teams coordinator Marty Biagi have spent time helping Mickens by working with the safeties, there’s inherently more mingling between the safeties and cornerbacks with Mickens coaching both positions. That could be a positive in the long run.
“It’s different from what I had last year with Coach O’Leary,” Shuler said. “But now I feel like we’re an even stronger group. I know exactly what the corners are thinking. The corners and nickels are kind of all working together now. So, just with him coming in and telling us in meeting rooms together, we’re all kind of like reading the same thing and kind of having the same language.”
Watts has enjoyed watching Shuler and fellow sophomores Luke Talich and Ben Minich taking on more responsibilities.
“You see a different mentality with those guys, especially with most of the older guys gone,” Watts said. “So it’s kind of their time to shine now. They’ve got to get more prepared.
“Obviously, Adon has been getting a lot more locked in mentally. He’s been asking a lot more questions. He’s been taking it a lot more seriously.”
That focus has led to Shuler getting more comfortable in his technique, his run fits, his coverage assignments and communicating the calls to those around him. He wants to continue to develop to the point where the game starts slowing down.
At the same time, don’t expect Shuler to slow down when it comes to the competition for the starting safety position. Heard better come ready to play, because Shuler has shown his bright potential.
“He's being intentional about everything, mentality wise, how he approaches it,” Mickens said of Shuler. “He comes to meet every day, just one on one. His mentality with it … he's going to be really, really good for us.”
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