Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 JUNE/JULY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED he might be up for another raise soon. "I'm excited to be here," Golden said April 6. "It's a blessing, obviously, to be on the staff and work for this institu- tion. And it's even a greater blessing to be able to coach these kids." NEW ERA AT LINEBACKER OFF TO FLYING START Last season, Notre Dame took a "set it and forget it" approach at linebacker. And for good reason. JD Bertrand, Marist Liufau and Jack Kiser were all graduate students in their third season of meaningful playing time. As first-year linebackers coach Max Bullough (who was the de facto lineback- ers coach in 2023 as a graduate assistant) has said, they essentially coached them- selves and operated the defense exactly the way he and Golden wanted. "I pretty much didn't have to be here," Bullough said. "They're out there, they're doing their thing. We had younger guys behind. them" Only Kiser returned for 2024, with Bertrand and Liufau giving way to a group of talented underclassmen. There are four of them who figure to challenge for playing time alongside Kiser: junior Jaylen Sneed, sophomores Drayk Bowen Junior linebacker Jaylen Sneed might have been Notre Dame's most improved player in spring ball. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP Vyper No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 12 Jordan Botelho 6-3 263 Gr./1 44 Junior Tuihalamaka 6-2 250 Jr./3 or 51 Boubacar Traore 6-4 240 So./4 10 Loghan Thomas*^ 6-4 205 Fr./4 Nose Tackle 56 Howard Cross III 6-1 284 Gr./1 97 Gabriel Rubio# 6-5 306 Sr./2 41 Donovan Hinish 6-2 279 Jr./3 59 Sean Sevillano Jr.* 6-1 333 Fr./4 98 Devan Houstan 6-4 285 So./4 Defensive Tackle 99 Rylie Mills 6-5 297 Gr./1 47 Jason Onye 6-5 287 Sr./2 42 Cole Mullins* 6-4 244 Fr./4 17 Brenan Vernon 6-5 272 So./4 95 Tyson Ford 6-4 290 Jr./4 93 Armel Mukam^ 6-3 290 So./4 Field End 9 RJ Oben 6-3 261 Gr./1 40 Joshua Burnham 6-4 252 Jr./3 30 Bryce Young 6-7 246 Fr./4 91 Aiden Gobaira^ 6-5 249 Jr./3 Will Linebacker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 24 Jack Kiser 6-2 232 Gr./1 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 218 Jr./2 25 Preston Zinter 6-2 229 So./4 — Bodie Kahoun+ 6-3 215 Fr./4 Mike Linebacker 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 234 So./3 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa* 6-3 236 Fr./4 43 Kahanu Kia 6-2 226 So./3 Rover 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 218 Jr./2 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 220 So./4 — Teddy Rezac+ 6-3½ 185 Fr./4 Boundary Cornerback 20 Benjamin Morrison^ 6-0 186 Jr./2 18 Chance Tucker 6-0 186 Sr./2 — Leonard Moore+ 6-2 175 Fr./4 Field Cornerback 7 Jaden Mickey 6-0 178 Jr./2 or 29 Christian Gray 6-0 188 So./3 — Karson Hobbs+ 6-1 180 Fr./4 Slot Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 1 Jordan Clark 5-10 180 Gr./1 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 220 So./4 Strong Safety — Rod Heard II+ 5-11 190 Gr./1 or 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 198 So./4 23 Kennedy Urlacher* 5-11 195 Fr./4 22 Devyn Ford 5-11 198 Gr./1 — Taebron Bennie-Powell+ 6-1 185 Fr./4 Free Safety 0 Xavier Watts 6-0 201 Gr./1 28 Luke Talich 6-4 210 So./3 13 Ben Minich 6-0 192 So./4 — Tae Johnson+ 6-1½ 185 Fr./4 * Early enrollee; ^ coming off an injury; + enrolling in the summer Post-Spring 2024 Notre Dame Scholarship Depth Chart Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's projection for how Notre Dame's 2024 defense scholarship depth chart looks coming out of spring practice.