SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Some of Antonio Carter II’s new Notre Dame football teammates didn’t believe he played cornerback at FCS Rhode Island.
That’s because the 6-foot, 207-pound graduate transfer looks like a safety and hits like one too.
“I honestly couldn't believe he played corner, just how big he is,” said sixth-year senior DJ Brown. “He's a great tackler, real physical. So just seeing that I was like, 'There's no way you played corner at Rhode Island.' So I thought that was funny. But he's been doing a really good job.”
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Carter, who committed to the Irish in May during a campus visit, has been working exclusively at safety in the first 11 practices of Notre Dame’s preseason camp as he tries to get up to speed from a June campus arrival.
By the time Notre Dame put the pads on, Carter seemed to be fitting right in with the Irish. Safeties coach Chris O’Leary heard a loud thud in the secondary before realizing it was Carter who delivered it.
“He’s built to be a safety,” O’Leary said. “Steps in the box and strikes. He’s 200 pounds, and when he hits you, you feel it.”
That physicality has been an emphasis for Notre Dame’s entire safety group. So much so that O’Leary and senior defensive analyst Ronnie Regula came up with a terms to reward or shame good or bad hits. A good hit is referred to as a dog play. A bad hit is referred to as a cat play. Then a collection of cat plays are put together on film to remind the safeties to do a better job.
“Guys come up to me,” O’Leary said, “during practice and say, ‘I had a cat rep; I already know it’s going to be on there.’ And then when they have a ‘dog’ they make sure I see that dog rep. It makes it fun.”
Some of Notre Dame’s safeties, particularly Brown and Carter, have been asked to be even more physical when playing the aztec position in a third-down package that utilizes three safeties. The aztec plays closer to the line scrimmage like a linebacker and can blitz or drop into coverage.
“That is definitely cool,” Carter said. “I get to do different things like blitz, cover, get in the post, play curl/flat. Different things like that. That’s perfect for me, because I do see myself as versatile. I do love that package for sure.”
Carter made his impact felt playing cornerback the last two seasons at Rhode Island where he recorded 105 tackles, 16 pass breakups, 5.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, three recovered fumbles, two sacks and one interception. He described himself Monday as a cross between Xavier Watts and Brown.
Those two — Notre Dame’s likely starters in the season opener against Navy on Aug. 26 in Dublin, Ireland — have been the mentors Carter has leaned on in trying to learn the Irish defense. He also wants to build a rapport with any of the safeties he may take the field alongside.
“As much as it is important to build that chemistry on the field, it’s off the field as well,” Carter. “Just building those relationships, joking around in the locker room. Then when it comes to business and it comes to the plays, asking them, ‘What can I do better? How does this look?’ So they know that you’re about business. That’s what helps for sure.”
O’Leary, who helped recruit Carter so well that the transfer canceled planned visits to LSU and Florida during his Notre Dame, has pushed Carter to be better.
“He’s helped me a lot. He’s hard on me for sure. He doesn’t let me slack at all,” Carter said. “That’s what I need to get to the place I want to be, the future and the player I want to be. I definitely need to listen.”
With each practice, Carter’s transition to safety becomes more complete.
“He’s made it look easy because he’s a smart football player,” O’Leary said. “He’s making calls in the box that I would never expect a corner to understand because he gets it. Some of the middle-open coverages and things like that he still has to take that step because he’s not used to being back there, but that’s nothing that I didn’t expect.”
Carter might be a little more hesitant about how easy it’s been. He even described it as hard and rated himself as “OK” and “all right.” But that’s because he holds himself to a high standard and wants to get in the mix sooner rather than later.
While coming to a new school and learning a new system may make Carter feel a bit like a freshman, the clock is ticking with only two seasons of NCAA eligibility remaining.
“The physicality is there. The mental is there. Now it’s just getting the little details down and getting super comfortable to where I never mess up,” Carter said. “That’s what I’m trying to work on. Just getting all the details down. Learning how to be a safety.”
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