SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Logan Diggs has wristbands and other reminders all around and attached to him to keep his head in sync with his dreams.
The most significant of them is a tattoo of the word “BLESSED” on his left forearm.
“This is the first tattoo I ever got, and it was original,” the Notre Dame junior running back said Thursday after practice No. 8 of the spring and the sixth straight in which he’s been more spectator than participant.
“It’s what I felt. I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of adversity. My mom and my family have been through a lot as well, and for me to be able to have the opportunity to go to college and make it to the next level, even be recruited out of high school and get the opportunity to come to college and play football and chase my dreams and get a free education, I felt blessed.”
To be clear, he does not consider adversity the “lower-body” injury, that he’d rather not specify, that’s defaulted most of the spring practice reps to the two healthy and present running backs on the roster, junior Audric Estimé and sophomore Gi’Bran Payne.
Besides, the 6-foot, 214-pound Boutte, La., product said he’s due to be back at practice as a full participant this coming week after Easter Break with six practices, beginning Wednesday, and the April 22 Blue-Gold Game still to go this spring.
“It’s extremely helpful, because not all the time are you going to be in the game,” he said of his sideline vantage point. “Sometimes in my situation, me and Audric rotated the whole season last year. So, when you are on the sideline, you need to be able to tell him what you’re seeing. It’s very, very helpful as a running back.”
Diggs led the team in carries in 2022, with 165, and was the team’s second-leading rusher with 820 yards and four rushing TDs after a slow start coming back from offseason shoulder surgery.
Estimé is Notre Dame’s leading returning rusher with 920 yards on 160 carries and a team-leading 11 touchdowns, with a leaner composition to the 227 pounds he carried on his 6-foot frame last season that, in turn, upgrades his skill set.
“Audric’s definitely more loose now,” Diggs offered. “Freshman year, sophomore year he was a little big. He wasn’t stiff, but you could tell he’s [now] a step quicker than what he was. He’s way more explosive, way more twitchier. Still just as strong, maybe even stronger — and he’s faster.
“A lot of people don’t know, but Audric’s pretty fast and he doesn’t really get the opportunity to break away, but he’s definitely faster and more explosive than what he was last season. And you could definitely tell his body composition is changing. Less body fat. He looks more toned. He looks like an NFL running back.”
Diggs claims he’s still faster.
Sophomore Jadarian Price, who missed his freshman season in 2022 because of a ruptured Achilles tendon, may be the fastest of the three and is on track to be 100 percent this summer. Payne is a former Ohio high school track standout and June-arriving freshman Jeremiyah Love — the highest ranked among the five coming out of high school — has a Missouri Class 5 state 100-meter championship on his résumé.
“I believe I have the best running back group in the country,” said Irish second-year running backs coach Deland McCullough, who then proceeded to enumerate the ways.
Diggs’ drive, his heart, his resilience, his adherence to what’s written on his left forearm helps pull all the other traits of the group together.
They watch him struggle. They watch him persevere. They watch him overcome over and over.
Diggs is the only three-star among the group, that used to include yet another four-star in senior Chris Tyree, converting this spring to wide receiver.
And yet the 2021 early enrollee was so confident in his own game heading into his freshman season, he regularly corrected O-line coach Jeff Quinn’s unit in practice, in the moment about their mistakes. Including veteran, future NFL linemen.
Captain Jarrett Patterson acknowledged at the time that Diggs knew what he was talking about.
“Coming in early I had a really good fall camp, really good summer, was supposed to play immediately,” Diggs recalled of the 2021 season. “I had the opportunity that I was blessed with to be able to play my freshman year.
“So, I came in and was supposed to play week 1, and I ended up getting sick (flu). I ended up not playing until [Game 6 versus Virginia Tech]. That was hard, working so hard in the offseason. You finally feel like you got there, and there’s one step backwards.
“That was a long process of me trying to battle back mentally, but over time the people here and the culture around here, it embraces you. So, it was real easy for me to snap back out of it. When it was time for my number to be called, I was ready to go out there and compete.”
He ended up as Notre Dame’s third-leading rusher, behind 1,000-yard rusher Kyren Williams and QB Tyler Buchner in his niche role with 230 yards on 52 carries and three TDs in eight games.
School has been a constant stressor, he said, but one he’s not only come to tolerate but welcome.
“It’s tough, but that’s what you sign up for when you come to Notre Dame,” he said. “You’re going to get that challenge, and I just embrace that challenge.”
He also embraces helping others off the field with their challenges, giving his time to Cultivate Food Rescue, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide meals to those in need in Northern Indiana.
“It allows you to think about all the things besides football,” Diggs said of the experience. “What y’all see is that we’re football players. That's what we do. That’s our job. But everybody needs that escape — not just to escape, but to bring you back to reality. It’s humbling.
“It’s easy to get a big head because of football, so doing those kinds of things helps keep everybody humble and level-headed.”
And feeling blessed.
“That’s heartwarming and at the same time heartbreaking, because what if this was my mom? What if this was my grandmother [in need of] food? It always gives you a little extra push, a little more motivation.”
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