Notre Dame Notebook: Marcus Freeman On Jaylen Sneed, Gi'Bran Payne, D-Line

No position battles were more hotly contested than the two guard spots during Notre Dame’s fall training camp. The two tackle positions, with Joe Alt on the left and Blake Fisher on the right, were both set in stone at the start of camp. Ditto the center where Zeke Correll returned as well.

The trio started all 13 games together in 2022 along with right guard Josh Lugg. Jarrett Patterson started 12 of 13 games at right guard, missing only last year’s season opener against Ohio State with a foot injury. With Patterson and Lugg both gone, the two guard spots were up for grabs for a handful of Irish offensive linemen to vie for in the spring and then during camp.

Veteran Andrew Kristofic emerged on the right side as the front runner during spring practice, while sophomore Billy Schrauth had what appeared to be a near ironclad grip on the left side. Neither of the frontrunners will start though when the Irish take the field for the first time in 2023 this Saturday against Navy. Instead, 6-5 1/8, 303-pound Pat Coogan gets the nod at left guard and 6-4 5/8, 314-pound fellow junior Rocco Spindler starts on the right after each earned their starting roles during training camp.

"Our guard battle was really, really good,” Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman assessed at his press conference this week. "The competition amongst those guys was what you want to see. I think Rocco and Pat, both just the confidence they built in their coaching staff, the trust of them being able to do their job on a consistent basis was why they’ll be in there to start the game.

"I feel really good about the depth of our guard position,” Freeman continued. "Billy had a great spring, I mean a great fall camp. But those two guys, man, have had a really good fall camp in terms of just the execution. All of them are physical. All of them have the traits that you look for in offensive guards but the overall execution of what they were asked to do on a consistent basis is why those guys will be starting for us.”

On Jaylen Sneed

Linebacker Jaylen Sneed didn’t earn a starting role heading into the season, but the heralded former 5-star recruit finds himself on the two-deep depth chart for the opener. Sneed played in Notre Dame’s final four games, beginning with the November game against Navy, of his freshman season. He is the No. 2 Rover behind Jack Kiser and he figures to be a factor in several defensive packages throughout the season.

"He’s going to help us in a lot of different ways,” Freeman said of Sneed. "He is a talented, talented football player and we will find ways to get him on the field because he makes us better when he’s on the field. We’re going to need all those guys in the linebacker room and what we do with Jaylen, where we play him, it’ll depend on each week. But Jaylen Sneed’s going to play for us because he makes us a better team when he’s out there.”

On Gi’Bran Payne

Like Sneed, running back Gi’Bran Payne played only in Notre Dame’s last four games of his freshman season in 2022, thus preserving a year of eligibility. Payne provided depth behind the likes of leading rushers Audric Estime and Logan Diggs as well as Chris Tyree. Diggs has since transferred to LSU and Tyree has moved to wide receiver.

With Jadarian Price still recovering from last year’s Achille injury during the spring, Payne got plenty of opportunities as the No. 2 back behind Estime and he did not let up during training camp, emerging as the No. 2 back behind Estime. Freeman noted the consistency Payne has shown to earn a larger role this season.

"Every couple days we talk about grades from practice,” Freeman explained. "We grade practice and we talk about who can you trust, who’s dependable and that's, to me, where Gi’Bran has truly elevated himself in terms of that running back room. It has nothing to do with...talent matters. He wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t talented but there might be some guys that you might say hey, he might be a tad bit more talented but we want to play guys that we trust and are dependable and that’s what Gi’Bran has shown in protection and taking care of the football and doing his job. He’s been really good. I think he’s graded higher than anybody in that room. But we’ll need them all. We’ll need Jadarian Price, we’ll need Devyn Ford, we’re going to need Jeremiyah Love. All those guys, to me, will help us.”

On The D-Line

One of the biggest offseason concerns the Irish had was the defensive line. The team lost 17 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss with the departures of Isaiah Foskey and Justin Ademilola and Jayson Ademilola from last year’s team. They benefitted from the arrival of Ohio State grad transfer Javontae Jean-Baptise and the continued steady play of senior Jordan Botelho, but there were still questions of depth and development across the board for Al Washington’s position group.

Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills will start on the interior, with Botelho and Jean-Baptiste one the ends, but possibly the biggest surprise of camp is the high quality, physical play from not just the starters, but also with the likes of reserves Jason Onye, Junior Tuihalamaka, Gabe Rubio, Nana Osafo-Mensah, Josh Burnham, and Donovan Hinish.

"I’d be lying if I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t a little bit surprised,” Freeman said of the play of the defensive line during camp. "I mean, you’ve got some guys that have not shown in the game, the Jason Onyes, the Junior Tuihalamakas, the Josh Burnhams, the Gabe Rubios, those guys that really haven’t played much defense in game situations that we’re going to be able to count on. We’re going to use those guys. .... Javontae played at Ohio State, we know what Rylie and Howard and some of those guys can do. Jordan Botelho’s had a really good camp.

"That’s been a room where at times you pull out Howard Cross and Rylie Mills and say get Onye in there with the ones, get Rubio in there with the ones,” Freeman continued. "Let’s see what they can do against really good players. Our edges go up against Joe Alt and Blake Fisher every day. That’s going to make you better or it’s going to expose you, one or the other. So, Coach Wash has done a great job of rotating those guys, finding roles for those guys and really develop the depth of that room.”

The defensive line rotation is expected to possibly go 10 deep this season.

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