Notre Dame’s Drew White: In-Depth At Linebacker
This summer in a series on the “most unheralded star” from each of its preseason top 25 teams, ESPN selected senior middle linebacker Drew White as the Notre Dame representative.
Wrote author Tom VanHarren, “He surprised a lot of people in 2019, given he played sparingly in the previous seasons, but he should get more attention than he does.”
Actually, it might be even less than in 2019, when he and classmate/rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, as first-time starters who came out of nowhere, paced the team in tackles with 80 apiece, including 21.5 stops for loss (eight by White).
The freakishly athletic Owusu-Koramoah might be Notre Dame’s top NFL prospect next spring with some first-round projections. Meanwhile, in the preseason the improvement of Whites’ backup, junior Bo Bauer, was highlighted by head coach Brian Kelly, and it’s shown with more playing time on defense (37 snaps) after being named the Special Teams Player of the Year last season.
Oh, and then there is Buck linebacker, which has garnered much attention the past month. Junior Shayne Simon and sophomore Marist Liufau were the co-starters in the opener when they recorded 32 and 27 snaps, respectively, in the 27-13 win over Duke.
Yet a week later when neither was available against USF, sophomore Jack Kiser stepped in and earned the game ball for his aggressive and productive performance while recording a team high eight stops. He too was cited by Kelly in the preseason, along with No. 3 Mike linebacker and fellow sophomore J.D. Bertrand, as someone the No. 1 offense has had problems blocking in practice.
That’s not even including four-star sophomore Osita Ekwonu, who blocked a punt versus USF, and junior rover Paul Moala, who tallied his own touchdown last year against Navy and is grooming to be Owusu-Koramoah’s heir.
It provides at least some insight on why Notre Dame did not make signing a linebacker in the last recruiting cycle a priority. Boca Raton, Fla., native White in reality might have been the least heralded figure among all of them despite starring at superpower St. Thomas Aquinas (where Florida State star cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. also thrived).
"Our linebacker room is stacked," White said. "We have the most depth I've ever seen while being here. I don't think any other school in the country has as much depth at the linebacker position as we do here.”
Kiser was not even listed on the two-deep this week, and on Thursday Kelly revealed the sophomore would not be available against FSU. Regardless, White says under defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Clark Lea the Fighting Irish have forged and enhanced a plug-and-play mentality the past several years.
“Any of those Bucks that line up — any of the Mikes that line up — are going to be able to take control of the defense, get everyone lined up, play hard, play fast and get to the ball,” White said. "We've been able to rotate throughout practice and even games to where I feel I have a great chemistry with all the guys, no matter who I line up with. I'm excited to look out and see the guy next to me — whoever it is.”
Also molded by Lea and the entire staff is consistency in the attitude toward competition and daily routine. Thus, when football operations with practice and beyond were put on hold from September 21 for more than a week because of a surge with the coronavirus within the team, the response was not of panic but process.
“It’s the same thing as before: accountability to yourself and accountability to your teammates, which we have learned already in this system and this culture that we’ve created here,” White said.
“That was really emphasized over the actual quarantine over March when we were all home and had then player-only Zoom meetings, sending in videos to your teammates and friends or SWAT leaders to hold yourself accountable, make sure you’re working out every day. And that just kind of flowed into the little hiccup we had here.
“I feel like we didn’t really miss a beat. I have full faith and trust in all my guys. I knew what everyone was doing, I knew everybody was doing the right thing.”
Similar to former two-time captain and Academic All-American Drue Tranquill (2014-18), White provides a model example of leadership as a student-athlete that all can respect.
Enrolled in the College of Science, he took 15 credits last fall, including a physics lab for his pre-med requirement, and a dual major (Science/Business) for students who want to be in both pre-med and business. (White is taking management courses on the business end.)
“It’s tested me, my discipline and academically,” White said. “I’m pretty much past all my hard classes, Physics II out of the way last semester.”
Eligible for a fifth season in 2021, White’s discipline also was tested through his first three years while overcoming a litany of major injuries. He answered the bell throughout last season, and feels far more mentally and physically capable in 2020.
“Mentally just the tactical part of the game, I feel a step ahead," White said. “I was able to gain a lot of experience. I was able to see a lot of different sets, a lot of different plays, formations, tendencies. I'm building that into my game now and I feel extremely comfortable on the mental side.
"Physically, being able to have a full offseason of staying healthy and being able to train and lift and run without any hindrances has brought my physical capability up as well.”
Second on the team in tackles with nine (behind Owusu-Koramoah’s 10), White also has equaled his quarterback pressures (2) from last year, but he is not necessarily enamored with raw numbers. It’s about team production.
"I feel like you can read into stats and all the lines a little bit too much sometimes and start to analyze stuff that's not really present,” he said. “But on the other hand, I do feel like as a linebacking unit and as a defense, we've become more aggressive.
"I think that stems from having extreme comfort in the game plan and not having to worry about guys being in the wrong spot or not getting lined up. With a true veteran defense, I feel like we can apply way more pressure and aggressiveness to our game plan."
No matter who lines up at linebacker, or anywhere else on defense.
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.
• Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @MasonPlummer_ and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.