Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 SEPT. 26, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY ANDREW MENTOCK T h e w o r l d w a t c h e d L S U ' s Tyrann Mathieu as he rose to college football stardom in the fall of 2011. His rise coincided with the popu- larity of his nickname, the "Honey Badger." Mathieu first earned this designation in 2011 when the 5-9, 175-pound safety was just a sopho- more and the college football media became enamored with his tough- ness and ability to wreak havoc all over the field. This was evident by his 7.5 tackles for loss, nine passes broken up and six forced fumbles. That season, he became a consen- sus All-American, won the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to college football's best defensive player, and was a rare defensive finalist for the Heisman Trophy. In the same fall, Crawford watched as he began his own football ascent at nationally ranked St. Edwards in Lakewood, Ohio, where he was al- ready on the varsity as a 150-pound freshman who played in crunch time during a 20-17 playoff loss against cross-town rival St. Ignatius. "That son of a gun had ice in his veins," said Rick Finotti, the head coach at St. Edwards from 2009-14. "He had a huge pick, played big for us that game and just got the atten- tion of myself, his St. Ed's teammates and, most importantly, all the recruit- ers out there." As Crawford's high school career progressed, Finotti used him in a simi- lar way to Mathieu, lining up his ris- ing star all over the field on defense. One play, Crawford was at corner, the next deep at safety and then, all of a sudden, Crawford was lined up as a linebacker ready to blitz off the edge or up the middle. "He was our version of a 'Honey Badger,'" Finotti said. Yet cornerback was going to be his natural position in college given his size and electric speed, which was verified by the 10.54-second 100 me- ter dash he ran as a sophomore. As a senior, he was ranked as the nation's No. 7 cornerback and No. 82 overall player by Rivals. Once he enrolled at Notre Dame in the summer of 2015, Crawford made an immediate impact during fall camp and, immediately, was in posi- tion to win the starting nickel job. Then Crawford tore his ACL before the season opener against Texas, fol- lowed by an Achilles tear in 2016 and another ACL tear in 2018. Yet in the face of every setback, he had unshakable faith that he'd preserve and get back to the game he loves. At times, his self-assurance was so strong it put those close to him at ease. Now Crawford is in the midst of his sixth, and likely final, season at Notre Dame. But after playing at cor- ner throughout much of 2019, the 5-9, 182-pound defensive back won a dif- ferent starting spot: safety. "I never thought I'd be starting as a safety," Crawford said. "It was always just a dream that I had be- cause some of my favorite players play safety: Tyrann Mathieu, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Budda Baker. Those are some people that I've looked up to that I try to model my game after. "Although they've been safeties most of their career, I just tried to take the physicality, the instincts, the playmaking skills that they have and just put it into my game wherever I am on the field." Head coach Brian Kelly stated his surprise after Crawford won the job, even mentioning that he was initially put at safety to start fall camp as a "placeholder" until younger players emerged. But that all changed once actual competition began. "He went out and won that posi- tion," Kelly said. In order to prepare to compete for the starting safety spot, Crawford reached out to previous Notre Dame safeties Alohi Gilman, Jalen Elliott and Nicco Fertitta and discussed the nuances of the position. He wanted to know what he could do to be in the best position to help his team suc- ceed in 2020. "We had the conversation about what's next, and really the most im- portant thing is getting on the field," said Fertitta, now the defensive backs coach at his superpower alma mater, Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. "Shaun is one of those guys that really just wants to do anything to help the team and any way he can get on the field, whether it's corner, nickel, safety, special teams, he's go- ing to do it." A DREAM COME TRUE In his sixth season, Shaun Crawford wins the starting safety position