Notre Dame Names Seven 2021 Team Captains
None of Notre Dame’s six 2020 team captains returned for 2021. The Irish feel they still have plenty of strong leadership, though.
Head coach Brian Kelly on Friday named seven captains for the 2021 season, tying the program’s all-time high for a single year. They are junior running back Kyren Williams, graduate student receiver Avery Davis, senior center Jarrett Patterson, graduate student defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, graduate student defensive tackle Kurt Hinish, graduate student linebacker Drew White and junior safety Kyle Hamilton.
Each is a first-time captain and was a Spring/Summer Workout Accountability Team (SWAT) leader during offseason workouts. Notre Dame had 14 SWAT leaders this year, a higher number than normal.
“I think I can confidently say it's the deepest group of leaders that I've had here,” Kelly said after Notre Dame’s first fall camp practice.
All told, the captains are four graduate students, a senior and two juniors. Each is a returning starter from 2020. Patterson (center), White (middle linebacker), Hinish (nose tackle) and Tagovailoa-Amosa (strong-side defensive end) are entering their third seasons as starters, though Tagovailoa-Amosa spent 2019-20 as the No. 1 three-technique defensive tackle.
Williams emerged as an offensive centerpiece last season, rushing 211 times for 1,125 yards (5.3 yards per rush) and 13 touchdowns. His 35 catches ranked third on the team. All of this came after a freshman season where he played in the opener, but was barely heard from again the rest of the year. Without a returning starter at quarterback and with the turnover at wide receiver, he’s one of the more important voices on the offense.
So is Davis, who caught 24 passes for 322 yards and two touchdowns last year as the primary slot receiver. After arriving as a quarterback and moving to cornerback and running back, he found a home at receiver in 2020.
“His value to this program cannot be put down,” offensive coordinator Tommy Rees told BlueandGold.com in June. “He’s been through more than anyone who we have and he has kept a great attitude throughout it all. He has worked his way to find a place on this team and find a role in an impactful way. He had the two biggest plays of our season. He’s just a presence. He’s always out there, someone you can count on day in and day out.”
Patterson is Notre Dame’s lone returning full-time starter on the offensive line. He has started 21 games at center since 2019, and after initially planning to move him to another spot on the line, Kelly chose to keep him at his best position — where he has developed into a potential NFL Draft pick.
“You can’t downplay the impact Jarrett is going to have on the group as he comes back,” Rees said. “Just the leadership and the presence he’s going to have will settle everybody in and make sure everybody is on the same page. Naturally, he keeps guys to a certain standard.”
Tagovailoa-Amosa, a native of Hawaii, picked Notre Dame on National Signing Day in 2017 and became a rotation player that fall. He broke into the starting lineup as a junior and posted 6.0 tackles for loss in 2020. He moved to the edge — where he initially thought he would play — when defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman arrived in January.
Hinish returned for a fifth season using the COVID-19 waiver that granted all 2020 football players an extra year of eligibility. He’s likely to leave as the program’s all-time leader in games played. The former three-star recruit carved out a role as a freshman, kept it as a sophomore, moved into the starting lineup in 2019 and put forth his best season as a senior (7.5 tackles for loss).
White was a similarly less-heralded recruit in 2017 and entered 2019 fall camp far down the depth chart at middle linebacker. He exited it as the starter, and has not missed a game since. He has totaled 137 tackles, 17.0 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and three pass breakups in the last two seasons.
“The biggest thing with Drew is continue to be a leader,” defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman said. “Not just a leader by actions, but the things you say. I want to make sure his leadership will raise his game a little more.”
Hamilton’s impact and rare talent revealed itself as soon as he arrived on campus two summers ago. He intercepted a team-high four passes as a freshman. He led Notre Dame in tackles (63) in 2020. He enters 2021 as the best safety prospect in the last few NFL Drafts. His leadership growth, though, was a longer process.
“I put more pressure on myself to be a leader within the DB room, within the whole team,” Hamilton said. “Somebody anyone can look at to do the right thing.”
Notre Dame has not had two junior captains in the same season in Kelly’s 12-year tenure, excluding game-by-game selections in 2010. Prior to Hamilton’s and Williams’s selections, there were only four junior-year Irish captains from 2010-20: Sheldon Day (2014), Jaylon Smith (2015), Josh Adams (2017) and Robert Hainsey (2019).
The Irish also named seven captains in 2017 and 2019. They have had more than 200 captains in team history.
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