Sneed's rise, five-man rotation define surging Notre Dame linebacker group

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It’s selling on the recruiting trail and even a bigger hit amongst the Notre Dame linebackers themselves.

But Irish linebackers coach Max Bullough admitted Saturday after training camp practice it is more the result of a happy accident that he came to embrace than a premeditated formula that came to him in a brainstorm.

That is a non-linear depth chart at Bullough’s position group. More like a true five-man rotation over the three linebacker spots, with mega-versatility and athleticism baked into it.

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“I can't stress this enough … we're not doing 1s and 2s,” Bulllough said. “I just said the other day, ‘1s and 2s is a [freaking] practice thing.’ Excuse my language. We're getting ready to play a game. “And we don't have these seasoned guys that have played a bunch of snaps. We're going to roll them like we have, because we’ve got five guys we trust. And I can't wait to do it.”

Even the most experienced, sixth-year vet Jack Kiser, is primarily playing a new position — sliding over from rover to an inside position (Will), though he’ll see action at all three linebacker positions.

Everybody else in the rotation is also learning all three positions and have been plugged into them in practice throughout preseason training camp.

There’s a five-star freshman, in Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, two sophomores who saw some spot duty last season — in Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry — and a junior in Jaylen Sneed, who in his first two seasons had shown plenty of signs of being an elite athlete but not necessarily an elite linebacker.

Sneed collected a modest 14 tackles over 13 games last season, the same number as Bowen in roughly three times as many snaps (231 to 74) in 2023. Sneed did have a sack, a forced fumble, two pass breakups and five QB hurries.

But his season film grade, via Pro Football Focus, for tackling (43.3), was the lowest among any Irish front-seven player, starter or reserve. And his coverage grade (47.1) was the lowest of any linebacker on the team.

“I can't talk enough about how far Jaylen Sneed has come from year 1, from when I got here, to right now,” Bullough said of South Carolina’s Mr. Football, who played seemingly everywhere but a traditional linebacker role in high school, including starting at quarterback for Hilton Head Island High.

“I mean, you talk about a guy that his weight is where it needs to be, now. He's 225 consistently. He's playing with knee bend. He's playing with details. He's getting lined up. He's executing. He's communicating.

“If there was one person I'd say I can't be prouder of from when I got here to right now, it's No. 3. It's No. 3. And he's going to have a big year.”

Why?

“You can just see the maturity coming with him,” Kiser offered. “And that’s always been the issue. He’s always had all the talent, but [now he’s putting] the maturity with it and the confidence. Competition creates a great culture.”

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And now this five-man rotation is a centerpiece of the culture.

“It's kind of unfamiliar to me, to be honest,” Bulllough said when asked about maintaining continuity. “When I played, I was in there the whole time. Last year JD [Bertrand] and them were in there the whole time. That's been one of the things that surprised me.

“I think we've been able to maintain that continuity pretty well because of the competition of the room. Like, they want to play. These guys want to play. They know what it takes to play, so they just go in there and they execute.

“That's been the best thing for our room. That's been the best thing for us.”

And it won’t look the same from down to down. At times the Irish will play three linebackers in their base. In nickel, it might be two. On third down, one of them might drop down and play vyper end.

“I think it’s great for us,: Sneed said of the five-man shuffle, “because we’re all learning how each other plays. We’re learning how to communicate with everybody. We’re learning how to communicate with the D-line, the safeties, because we’re all rotating in.

“You don’t know who’s going to be the 1s, the 2s, so you have to communicate with everybody. I think the communication is the biggest part with rotating guys.”

Only Kiser among the five has more than one career start. And 15 of his 17 were at his old rover position. Three of them have never started in college. Viliamu-Asa has yet to play a down.

“Not concerned at all,” Bulllough said. “We’ve got youth, yes. But Jaylen Sneed has played a lot of football for us. Drayk played last year. But these are all smart [guys]. I mean, we talk about the game. We live in the game. We're going through it verbally in the meetings. I'm not worried about it all. I'm excited for it.”

With Viliamu-Asa creating a good share of that excitement.

“He can bend around the edge, in a pretty special way,” Bulllough offered.

“Oh my God, he’s so good for a freshman,” Sneed added. “Literally the first time I saw him, I was like, ‘Damn, this kid’s gonna be really good for Notre Dame.’ He’s just been really into the playbook, really just talking to all of us guys. Just really learning everything, and I think he’ll be a really good player for us this year.”

And yet part of a group of five who have that kind of potential.

“Everybody from last year to this year has taken a huge jump in terms of that stuff,” Bullough said “in terms of the football knowledge, being able to slow down, do my job, get my cleats in the turf, have the right eyes — OK, they motion, now my eyes are here. Everyone has gotten better at that.

“And I keep saying this over and over, but it's because of the competition. Like, these guys want to play. They want to play, and they see the guys in front of them doing it the right way, and so then they pick it up.

“I mean, it's really been, to be honest with you, that's the story to me. Like, I think it's cool. I think it's the most competitive room I've ever been in. It’s the most genuine competitiveness, and it's bringing it the best out in me too.”

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