Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 23, 2023 19 Schugars and the Trojans partner with an organization called Freedom Build- ers, a group that works with churches to help build and maintain low-income housing in Northern Michigan. "That was a very cool experience throughout high school and I'm very thankful that we got the opportunity," Burnham said Sept. 5. "We were able to go around and help some of the families that needed some support." Central works with Freedom Build- ers on a project every summer, and Schugars remembers the role Burnham had in one of them. "I envision him right now, he's up on a roof," Schugars said. "They're doing a roofing project, and Josh is right there in the thick of things. Leaders, they get their hands dirty." The Freedom Builders projects were optional, but because of leaders like Burnham's enthusiasm for them, they didn't seem optional. "Guys who will play for you, as a cap- tain and a leader, will follow you when you do all those extra things as well," Schugars said. "There's a lot of things young peo- ple would probably do on a sunny summer morning, af- ter weights, after you've done your football work, and you go volunteer in your community." Burnham was a catalyst for com- munity service, in a relatively tight-knit community, both because of the influ- ence he carried as the famous football player and because he wanted to use it that way. That stuck with many people there, who are now closely following his career at Notre Dame. As far as his Irish coaches are con- cerned, that career is off to a great start. Burnham is a key player on special teams, according to special teams coor- dinator Marty Biagi, and in just 39 snaps through Week 2, he's made an impact on defense. Burnham totaled 4 pressures, includ- ing that sack against Navy, and 6 defen- sive stops (tackles that result in a failure for the offense) in those 39 snaps. "His factor level, so far, has been high," Notre Dame defensive coordi- nator Al Golden said Sept. 5. "So, your number of plays divided by factors, that's your ratio. His is high, whether it's quarterback sacks or tackles or whatever the case may be. "I think that's a good sign for him moving forward." Burnham has a lot of people in Tra- verse City invested in his success. "Just being able to go out and help part of the community and help those families and just give back to the com- munity," Burnham said. "That's a big thing that I really like to do." ✦ "You ask guys to volunteer and, as a leader, he was there." TRAVERSE CITY (MICH.) CENTRAL HEAD COACH ERIC SCHUGARS ON BURNHAM