Brandon Joseph Credits Notre Dame For Preparing Him To Make The Jump To The NFL

Former Northwestern All-American safety Brandon Joseph became a hot commodity last off-season when he entered the transfer portal. The 2023 NFL Draft prospect would opt for Notre Dame, where he was met with high expectations immediately after making the decision.

Obviously the season did not quite live up to Joseph’s or Notre Dame’s expectations. It was riddled with an injury and inconsistent play, setting up for a bit of a letdown.

Despite it not going quite as well as expected, Joseph still views that lone season at Notre Dame as a success. On Friday, he was made available to the media at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine. According to him, things went exactly as he expected when originally making the decision.

“It was exactly what I expected, man,” Joseph said. “Joining a culture like the one that they have at Notre Dame, a team that wants to win a national championship and to fight for it. It was a tough start to the season early on. We got those two early losses, but we were able to turn the season around and find a way to win a bunch of games and be able to really finish strong.

“I was able to join a team with a lot of seniors, a lot of veterans, and it's very much like when I get into the NFL,” Joseph continued. “I'm joining a team with a lot of high value players. I'm gonna have to figure out how to enter that culture and be dominant, so I think I was able to do that every day but it really prepared me for entering the NFL.”

Everyone knows that NFL Draft prospects are tutored on how to answer questions leading up to the draft process. Some reporters decided to continue pressing Joseph and trying to see if there was much frustration.

Joseph did not turn negative. He insisted that he was happy with the decision he made and his time with the Irish.

“No, I loved it,” Joseph began to explain. “I was deciding if I'm going to declare or not. So when I decided to come back, I wanted to transfer to, like I said, join a culture like Notre Dame to win a national championship and work hard every single day. I think it was great for me. What Marcus Freeman is doing over there, it is going to be great.

“Notre Dame had 18 and 22 returning starters,” Joseph continued to explain. “It was a senior laden team and so for me to really get in their immediate presence and spring ball immediate starter like that, that's the confidence that I needed. That allowed me to become the best player that I could be. The coaches over there pushed me and to make me better. I know that I'm a veteran coming in and still that doesn't matter. They still continuously get better over there. They helped my confidence to know that everyday counted.”

The big setback during the season was a high ankle sprain which caused Joseph to miss multiple games. He remained positive through that situation, eventually having to get over a mental hurdle. For Joseph, he thinks it made him stronger after persevering through it.

“It was my first injury that I'd actually had to sit out,” he explained. “I've never missed a game in my career up to that point. So it was the first time I had to go through that experience sitting on the sidelines through practice and games and so I had to get over that mental hump, see how it is to sit out and then eventually come back from it. It's something that I think is going to make me stronger in the long run.”

Joseph also joined a program that was under some transition with Head Coach Marcus Freeman taking over. He was incredibly complimentary for what Coach Freeman is building. Joseph has a lot of confidence in his vision.

“Freeman stepped into a big role being a head coach at Notre Dame first year,” Joseph stated. “It's a big responsibility and I think he took it on full force. I'm really proud of the way that he did it.

“I didn't see what Notre Dame was like since that was my first year there and the way that he impacts everyone and the culture they have over there,” he added. “I can tell why they made it to the national championship, why they made it to the playoffs, why they have successful years over and over again. So I'm proud of what he's doing. I was honestly honored to be a part of this.”

Despite how things played out, Notre Dame had a tremendous impact on Joseph. He feels ready to tackle the rest of the process, partly due to his experiences with the Irish program this season.

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