Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 SEPT. 16, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Mike Seamon holds only one job title at Notre Dame, but he wears many hats. As the vice president of campus safety and uni- versity operations, Seamon is best described as Notre Dame's Chief Operations Of- ficer, in charge of overseeing all that goes on before, dur- ing and after big events on campus. These include the home football games and other university endeavors at Notre Dame Stadium, such as the Garth Brooks concert last Oc- tober, the 2019 NHL Winter Classic in January and the Liverpool F.C. soccer game in July. Operations including police and fire protection, medical services, traffic and parking, and all facility operations fall under Seamon's watch. BGI: What drove Notre Dame administrators to choose Garth Brooks for the first-ever concert at the stadium? Seamon: "We knew the first one had to be successful. You had to get somebody who had a wide range of interests and a broad fan base, no matter who he, she or they were, and our first thought was Garth Brooks." BGI: Was there any other force that sparked an inter- est in these more peripheral- type events beyond football? Seamon: "Before the Cam- pus Crossroads Project, this beautiful stadium sat vacant for all but about eight days a year — the home football games, the Blue-Gold Game and commencement. "When the stadium project was completed, it begged the question for the university, 'How do you want to utilize it throughout the year beyond that?'" BGI: What has been the greatest logistical chal- lenge you've faced hosting these events? Seamon: "Garth Brooks brought 72 semi-trucks with him. We had to stage them, safely bring them in, bring them in a correct order — those movements were non-trivial. "Logistically, it's just mind blowing on how you can do that in an efficient, timely and safe man- ner, as much leading up to it as tearing it down afterwards." BGI: What's the greatest challenge in terms of handling thousands of new visitors? Seamon: "These are not season-ticket holders or routine visitors to campus. These are first- time-to-the-area visitors, and so we realized that we had to do more information-sharing on how to get around, what the area and campus had to offer, which was a great challenge. "But hopefully we have people who had such a good time that they remember the area and the university fondly." BGI: And what beyond revenue do you hope these events might ultimately generate? Seamon: "Maybe they'll come back for a future visit, maybe they'll come back and do business here, maybe they'll send their child to school here, who knows? "It's a great exposure thing." — Todd D. Burlage Five Questions With … NOTRE DAME VICE PRESIDENT OF CAMPUS SAFETY AND UNIVERSITY OPERATIONS MIKE SEAMON Seamon is in charge of overseeing all that goes on before, during and after big events on the Notre Dame campus. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA Drew White Makes Another Ascent By Lou Somogyi The first inclination was to go with fifth-year senior defensive back Shaun Crawford once again bouncing back from major surgery. However, at least in 2017 we saw Crawford for a full season. With junior Mike linebacker Drew White, that has not been the case. Yet every time he is all but written off as a potential factor in the lineup, he has a resurrection. Redshirted as a freshman in 2017, White was not even in the three deep after suffering a broken ankle in the spring of 2018. Yet there he was last season replacing an injured Drue Tranquill ("Who the heck is No. 40?") versus Navy, recording six tackles while effectively handling the triple option. White played only four more snaps the remaining five games … yet there he was again as the No. 1 Mike linebacker to begin 2019 spring drills. After three practices and then spring break, White was sidelined the final dozen practices following a skiing accident during vacation that fractured the AC joint in his shoulder. Yet there was relatively unheralded three-star recruit White again this August, winning the starting Mike position over more touted sophomores such as Shayne Simon, Bo Bauer and Jack Lamb, and more ex- perienced veterans such as Asmar Bilal (working mainly at Buck while also at Mike), Jordan Genmark Heath and Jonathan Jones. Head coach Brian Kelly stated that if you look up "Mike linebacker" in the dictionary, White's picture would be there. It probably would be even more apropos next to the word "perseverance." Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Turns Into A Playmaker By Bryan Driskell I am not overly surprised that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has ascended to the top of the rover depth chart. The third-year player is the most experi- enced defender at the position and he has always impressed with his raw athleticism, at least when he's been healthy. Owusu-Koramoah was going to get every chance to seize control of the rover position during fall camp, and the native of Hampton, Va., took full advantage of those opportunities. What has been a surprise is how comfortable and dynamic Owusu- Koramoah was during all of the open practices. Not only did Owusu-Koramoah take control of the rover position, he was arguably the best defensive playmaker throughout fall camp. The junior might be the best pound-for-pound athlete on the defense, putting his top-level speed and quickness on display every time we saw him in action. Those traits serve him best in coverage, with Owusu-Koramoah showing the abil- ity to play to the sideline just as effectively as he can open up and run vertically. We saw him defending smaller slot receivers just as easily as he handled tight ends and running backs. He made a number of highlight-reel plays in coverage, including a pair of impressive interceptions of senior quarterback Ian Book in which he turned what seemed to be open receivers into a turn- over for the defense. Book labeled him "a freak" because of his skills at rover. Owusu-Koramoah showed much-needed improvement as a run defender during fall camp, which was the biggest question mark about his game. He was more physical taking on blocks and arrived at the ball with greater force. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHO WAS NOTRE DAME'S TOP SURPRISE FROM THE AUGUST TRAINING CAMP? WHITE OWUSU-KORAMOAH