Jordan Botelho Being Focused Off The Field Will Result In A Breakout On It
The time has arrived at Notre Dame for defensive end Jordan Botelho. The soon to be senior has spent his first three college seasons looking for a way to find a spot on the field on Saturdays. He brought an edge with him to South Bend from his native Hawaii but he is still learning to harness it.
"We have a chip on our shoulders and we just wanted to carry it with us,” Botelho said of his Hawaiian attitude after practice this week. "We like pride and passion. I would say I’m a very passionate football player.”
Botelho has played in 35 games over his first three seasons, most of it on special teams. The Honolulu native is a 6-2, 255-pound ball of energy and passion for the game, but it hasn’t always been channeled in a direction that conducive to seeing the field.
"He'll always bring the energy, he'll always bring the fight, he'll always bring the finish,” Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden said of Botelho. "So that's not the issue. The issue is prepare, eliminate (mental errors), play with poise and execute within the realm of the defense.”
Execute the assignment. Play within the structure of the defense. Maybe it’s easier said than done.
Botelho’s career got off to a bumpy start in 2020 when he enrolled early before spring football was shut down due to the pandemic. After the team arrived back on campus that summer, Botelho was sent home for being a habitual Covid protocols violator. He was sent home before finally being allowed to return to the team.
"It was a great learning experience,” Botelho explained. "I got sent home, but it was a great opportunity for me too, because my coach back home, Mike Lafaele, I was just training with him. I was getting stronger, working on pass rush. Really, when I came back, I learned a lot from being back home and I felt like I was more ready to come back and be a college football player.
"Of course I had to learn,” he continued. "Through my experiences here I definitely learned a lot, but I definitely had many mistakes. But I feel like they helped me grow as a person into the man that I am now.”
He quickly made his mark in his collegiate debut in Notre Dame’s second game of that 2020 campaign when he blocked a punt that he returned for a touchdown in a 52-0 win over South Florida. Botelho would go on to play in 10 more games that season, the majority of it, like the majority of his career action, was on special teams.
Botelho’s personal issues weren’t the only thing keeping him from the field. He also had to fight his way up the depth chart with players like the program’s all-time sack leader, Isaiah Foskey, and Justin Ademilola in front of him at the Vyper defensive end position. Those two are gone now and Botelho has made the most of the opportunity this spring.
"I feel like I'm moving in the right direction right now,” Botelho said. "If I can just stay at that level, just keep getting better every day. Just limit the setbacks and just really get better every day.”
Botelho had one career start through his first two seasons – in the Shamrock Series game against Wisconsin in Chicago in 2021. His second career start came 22 games later in Notre Dame’s Gator Bowl win over South Carolina in December.
"I saw it as an opportunity,” Botelho stated. "So, I wanted to go out and try my best and just see what I could do. I’m just thankful and very blessed that I was able to have a good game.
"That was a really fun game,” continued the Irish end. "It was a great experience. I got to start, and I just had a great time playing. Like it was really unbelievable to see all the South Carolina fans. We were running into enemy territory. It was like us against everybody. It was really fun.”
Foskey didn’t play that game after opting out of the bowl. Botelho seized the opportunity to springboard into 2023 with two sacks to match the two he had last October against Syracuse. He finished with 4.5 sacks on the season, which was second only to Foskey’s 11.
If all goes as planned, Botelho will make his third career start on August 26 when the Fighting Irish open the season against Navy in Dublin, Ireland. Sacks will be harder to come by against the triple option Midshipmen offensive attack, but it figures to be the first of multiple opportunities for Botelho to leave an impression on his coaches and fans alike.
What does he want that lasting impression to be?
"That I’m under control,” Botelho said. "Play hard, focused, and a team player.”
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