Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2023 35 cus Freeman. He's absolutely and out- wardly enamored by his workplace. He isn't the only one. For Bullough, though, it is actually different. The call to work from Freeman this past winter had immediate sentimental value. Bullough didn't have to see it to believe it. Unlike other coaches who are ultimately moved by the majesty that floats from Notre Dame Stadium to Touchdown Jesus to the Golden Dome and down through the Grotto, the 31-year-old Bullough had already experienced all of it for himself. Many times. Bullough's maternal grandfather is 87-year-old Jim Morse, a three-year starter at halfback for Notre Dame in the 1950s. "I've been coming here every year since I was a kid," Bullough said. "Ob- viously there was a little lapse in the last 10 years, but I've known about this place since I was a kid. It's always been special to me." The lapse coincided with Bullough's playing career. He was a MaxPreps second-team All-American at Traverse City (Mich.) St. Francis. Phil Steele ranked him as the No. 17 over- all linebacker prospect in the country coming out of high school in 2010. His recruitment came down to two schools. "It was always between Michigan State and Notre Dame," he said. "What really tipped the scales, to be honest, is my dad went [to MSU] and played there. It was an emotional thing. We'd go to games and he'd put 'Thunderstruck' on. "I was just a kid. It just is what it is. But this place was equally as special." B u l l o u g h , wh o h a s " S PA RTA N " spelled out in big, bold lettering on the inside of his right bicep and "PRIDE" on the left, played against the Fighting Irish all four years he resided in East Lansing. Notre Dame triumphed three times. Bullough still had plenty of individ- ual success as a college player. Michi- gan State wasn't devoid of it despite the results versus Notre Dame, either. Bullough was second-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore, and first-team All-Big Ten as a junior and senior. He was also a team captain in his last two campaigns at MSU. In all, Michigan State went 42-12 with three bowl wins in the four years Bullough was there. It was one of the most prolific four-year stretches in pro- gram history. In Bullough, Notre Dame has an as- sistant who knows firsthand what suc- cess at the college level looks like. That's as a player at Michigan State and a coach at Alabama. "The amount of knowledge he brings, it's a different perspective from some- one like James Laurinaitis or [Notre Da m e d e fe n s ive c o o rd i n a to r A l ] Golden," Notre Dame graduate student linebacker JD Bertrand said. "He's smart," Golden added. "He's tough. When you're doing the job that he's doing, you've got to be mentally tough. He's mentally tough. He brings it every day. "He's brought ideas, both with NFL experience and also from Alabama, that I think has made us better." NOBODY'S PERFECT Not all of that NFL experience is worth emulating by Notre Dame's cur- rent linebackers. As a member of the Houston Texans, Bullough was suspended for violat- ing the NFL's performance enhancing drugs policy in May 2017. He was re- leased from the team a month later. Af- ter appearing in 30 games from 2014-16, Bullough never played another down in the league. He took ownership for his downfall. "When you don't do the right things, things happen to you that are out of your control and you can't handle them," Bullough said. "What we preach is control what you can control. Do the right things at the right time and don't put yourself in those situations to have to explain whatever it is." Bullough lived and learned. He landed on his feet in coaching. The Houston debacle wasn't all for naught, either. Current Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel was the Texans' linebackers coach when Bullough was on the team. He recently said on the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast that Bullough was one of the smartest players he has ever coached. The intelligence is already showing up at Notre Dame. "Just the detail in each play that he breaks down, he's very detailed," Ber- trand said. "He tells us every little thing. He's correcting every little detail of every single play. It might make film meetings go a little long, but it's really good." Meticulous in the film room. Re- lentless on the field. All football, all the time is the way he's always been wired. Through his grandfather play- ing at Notre Dame in the 1950s to his dad and uncles at Michigan State in the 1980s, Bullough was born to be around the game. "Football is what I've always given the most respect to," he said. "It's what has always humbled me more than anything else. It's hard for me to walk into an of- fice and think, 'I've got to be there at 7.' But if I have to walk into football and it's, 'You better be there at 5:30,' then I've got no problem with that." Those early wakeup calls are coming at a special place now, too. "This is as close to coming home as it gets," Bullough said. "Our parents' house is three and a half hours north. I'm familiar with this area. This is home to me." ✦