Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 30, 2023 17 got to Notre Dame as a freshman in 2022, turning Morrison into a leader himself. Morrison and Hart, according to the sophomore, weren't as close last year as they are now. Hart motivates and men- tors Morrison, but the Freshman All- American said it's cool for him to play alongside one of his closest friends, too. "Cam is the type of dude who you want to play for," Morrison said. "He's the type of leader you want to play for." "It feels good," Hart said. "It's an honor, especially knowing what these guys are going to be in the future, it's an honor these guys put so much trust in me, call- ing me their leader, calling me their cap- tain. I wear that badge with a lot of pride." As for what kind of captain Hart wanted to be this season, he said the team pretty much knows what they'll get from him. He's a quieter guy — although on the field, Gray said he's an oft-vocal trash talker, mainly toward Hartman (all in good fun and competitive spirit) — but he can deliver a message if he needs to. "He's a great leader for our team," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man said. "And he's so mature, right? You're talking about one of your fifth- year players, a mature individual that's really continuing to improve his craft of playing corner, and he's been a tremen- dous leader for this team." "He's been a great leader in our room for the past two seasons," cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens said in fall camp. "The great thing is now the whole team recognized it by voting him that. He does the little things for us." For his senior talk in fall camp, Hart told his teammates that if they ever go through difficult times or need that "big brother," he'll be there. He's a beloved figure on the Irish. 'RESILIENCE AND PERSISTENCE' Hart's journey at Notre Dame, as he pointed out after practice during fall camp Aug. 16, has been different from most of his peers. It's been long — really long. Hart switched to cornerback from wide receiver before his freshman cam- paign. He played all of three snaps on defense before his first shoulder in- jury ended his season. The 6-foot-2½, 207-pound, long, physical and athletic cornerback burst onto the scene in 2021 and looked like he'd be ready to enter the NFL Draft after his senior year, but then came the Boston College game and another shoulder injury. Hart said the road to get to where he is now was hard. Life as a Notre Dame football player was hard, at least at first, balancing school, his social life and his time on the field. "I think resilience, honestly, and per- sistence," Hart said, when asked how he'd describe his winding road at Notre Dame. "Having to overcome that ad- versity time after time, and then getting to the point that I am now, just looking back in retrospect, is kind of crazy." Hart stayed the course by thinking about how fortunate he felt to be in his position, as a football player at Notre Dame. His upbringing in inner-city Bal- timore, in what he told FightingIrish. com was a "tough place to grow up," had a lot to do with that. "I'm not in Baltimore dealing with some of the people that I grew up with," Hart said prior to the 2022 season. "I al- ways think about that, and then calling back home and staying grounded keeps me disciplined and keeps me on track." Even this fall, Hart left practice Aug. 8 with an apparent injury that caused him to miss the next one. But he was 100 percent after that, and he was still 100 percent after four games. In the spring, Hart couldn't lead as directly as he wanted to on the field be- cause he was still making his way back from the shoulder injury. Instead, he focused on coaching up his teammates in the meeting room — Hart would sit down with the young cornerbacks and break down their practice film. "Showing them what I see, showing them the difference of how I watch film from freshman year to now," Hart said. "The type of tendencies that I pick up on, things like that." That film study has helped the Irish secondary get off to an excellent start in 2023. In addition to leading the country in pass efficiency through four games, the Irish are third in passing yards per game (126.8) and 12th in passing yards allowed per attempt (5.23). Hart is intent on making sure that suc- cess continues for the rest of the season. "It comes with a responsibility, and I'm going to continue to be the best that I can, to bring out their best," Hart said. "I'm going to do that all season, no mat- ter the outcome." ✦ Hart, a graduate student cornerback who is one of four Irish team captains this season, helps anchor a secondary that led the nation in pass efficiency defense (84.73 rating allowed) through Week 3. PHOTO BY JOHN CROTHERS "Cam is the type of dude who you want to play for. He's the type of leader you want to play for." SOPHOMORE CORNERBACK BENJAMIN MORRISON ON HART