Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 7, 2024 19 sophomore wide receiver Jaden Great- house. Are any of those players wearing a "C" on their chest as team captains? No. But that doesn't tell the whole story. They're starters. They're leaders. "Everybody has the potential to lead," Golden said. "When I send notes to the defensive guys that are part of that leader group, it's a big number, and it's not just seniors." 'CAPTAINS GOTTA LEAD' In a fall camp team meeting, Freeman called on anyone who saw themselves as a potential team cap- tain to step to the front of the au- ditorium and face their teammates. He prefaced the confident departures from seats with this. "Captains gotta lead," he said. "They have to lead. You're willing to challenge your coaches. You're willing to chal- lenge anybody. You just don't go with the norm. You have to be willing to make decisions that not everybody is going to like." The following players heard that and still went to the front of the room: gradu- ate student running back Devyn Ford, graduate student defensive end Jordan Botelho, junior offensive lineman Billy Schrauth, junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison, senior tight end Davis Sher- wood, senior offensive lineman Pat Coogan, graduate student tight end Kevin Bauman, graduate student safety Xavier Watts, graduate student defensive lineman Howard Cross III, graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser, graduate student de- fensive tackle Rylie Mills, senior wide receiver Jayden Thomas, graduate stu- dent wide receiver Beaux Collins, junior quarterback Steve Angeli, senior quar- terback Riley Leonard and senior tight end Mitchell Evans. Each team member got to vote for their top four candidates among the 16. The players with the most votes would be named team captains. That could have been as many as 10 or as few as two. Freeman de- cided a natural cutoff came at a handful — Kiser, Mills, Leonard, Morrison and Watts. There you have them. Your five 2024 Notre Dame team captains. A rectangle isn't a square, but a square is still a rect- angle. Translation: There are only five captains, but there are many more lead- ers. Golden said so himself. "I could name four or five more," Golden said. "Jordan Clark and Rod Heard. I could go on and on. Adon Shuler, even though he's young. Drayk Bowen, even though he's young. Josh Burnham, even though he's young. There are a bunch of guys that are leaders." SPEAKING VOLUMES Clark and Heard, two newcomers with extensive histories at Arizona State and Northwestern, respectively, didn't volunteer themselves as team captains. Neither did Shuler, Bowen or Burnham. That's OK. Their lead- ership will still shine through. The same can be said for the plethora of players from the offen- sive side of the ball who did throw their caps in the ring. Yes, four of the five team captains are from the Notre Dame defense. But that wasn't for a lack of Irish offensive players trying. From Ford to Bauman, Thomas to Collins, Coogan to Evans, and, yes, even the backup quarterback, there are figures from the offense who personnel from all phases will look to in times of need this season. "You had six offensive guys that got double-digit votes," Freeman said. "I told the offense, 'This is exactly how you want it to be. You've got your quarter- back, that's the captain, and then you've got some real leaders on that offensive side of the ball.' "I love that. Let the quarterback get the shine. That's good. You're the cap- tain, but we've got real leadership. I'm talking about players getting in the high teens to 20s in votes. That spoke volumes to me of the way our team viewed the leadership in our offensive room." Leonard singled out a teammate to watch film after a fall camp practice. There was something he wanted to work on directly with a certain pass catcher. When he showed up for the review, the whole wide receiver room was there to go through the study. "There's so many different leaders on offense," Leonard said. "Obviously, I'm the one wearing the 'C' on my chest, but every position, there are so many guys that I can go to." That's accountability. That's l ea d e rs h i p. No t re D a m e h a s s o much of some- thing that's al- ways better in excess. ✦ "Everybody has the potential to lead. When I send notes to the defensive guys that are part of that leader group, it's a big number, and it's not just seniors." NOTRE DAME DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AL GOLDEN Senior wide receiver Jayden Thomas isn't a team captain, but he commands respect from Notre Dame players on offense. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER