Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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18 SEPT. 16, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED the spring of 2018. This time, he fin- ished seventh at the ACC Outdoor Championships. During that same time, his com- petitiveness began to truly emerge on the football field during spring practices. After practice, Pride would even confess that if Julian Love, who was getting first-team reps at the other starting cornerback position, had a good practice with multiple interceptions, he knew he needed to come back the next day and at least match Love's performance. "That's what corner is," Pride said. "If you're not looking to compete, shoot … you better not be out there." Not surprisingly, competitions with Love continued throughout the entire season. According to Todd Lyght, Notre Dame's defensive backs coach and a two-time All-American cornerback with the Irish who played 12 years in the NFL, this type of competitive spirit matters a great deal. "Your [competition] level is huge at the cornerback position," he said. "To me, it's probably the most dif- ficult position to play on defense due to the fact you're defending a lot of space. You're moving backward and probably playing against one of the best offensive players on the field. "To be really successful at corner- back, you have to have the win-at-all- costs mentality." Pride's competitiveness translated to games when, in 2018, he emerged as a difference-maker for the Irish on the football field, registering two interceptions, 47 total tackles and 15 forced incompletions, per Pro Foot- ball Focus. PFF also noted that Pride has become elite in coverage. On the 24 targets of 20 or more yards thrown his way over his career, he has al- lowed just four receptions. "He is the 10th-highest-graded cor- nerback on deep targets of all time and has the highest deep-forced in- completion rate in the PFF College era [since 2014]," Pro Football Fo- cus's Anthony Treash wrote. LESS RELIANT ON SPEED Almost as soon as Pride set foot on campus, he has been considered one of the fastest college football players in the nation. In May 2017, NFL.com writer Pride became a difference-maker at cornerback in 2018, registering two interceptions, 47 total tackles and 15 forced incompletions while earning an "elite" grade in deep coverage from Pro Football Focus. In his career, he has allowed just four receptions on 24 targets of 20 or more yards thrown his way. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA