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Notre Dame football assistant Max Bullough on linebacker Jaylen Sneed
Notre Dame football assistant coach Max Bullough raves about the physical transformation of fourth-year linebacker Jaylen Sneed this offseason.
SOUTH BEND —Former Notre Dame football team captain Jack Kiser is now in the NFL, but the standard remains from his six-year run as an Irish linebacker.
“We take a lot of pride in the linebacker room as a whole, being leaders of not only the room, but the defense and then the team,” third-year linebackers coach Max Bullough said. “We like to say we’re the barometer. We want to set the tempo. We want that burden, we want that responsibility, because we know we’ll be there to answer the bell.”
Drayk Bowen, who led all Notre Dame returnees with 78 tackles a year ago, is ready to take the next step in the post-Kiser era. The former Indiana Mr. Football figures to wear the green-dot helmet as the primary on-field connection with new defensive coordinator Chris Ash.
Sophomore Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is fully recovered from the knee injury that slowed him down the stretch last year, and fourth-year rover Jaylen Sneed is newly bulked up to better withstand the grind of a College Football Playoff run.
Also bigger is Jaiden Ausberry, whose 438 defensive snaps ranked second among returning linebackers. His 6.5 tackles for loss are tied for first (with defensive end Josh Burnham) among defensive returnees.
Early enrollee Madden Faraimo has the skills to bid for immediate playing time in what had been a five-man rotation, but he’ll face competition from solid holdovers such as Teddy Rezac, Preston Zinter and Bodie Kahoun.
The Kia brothers, Kahanu and freshman Ko’o, also offer depth, as does 244-pound freshman…
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Publish date : 2025-07-31 08:00:00
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