Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 28, 2024 19 "He went back in there and just de- stroyed it," Taliuta said. "I mean, just destroyed it." Kyngstonn's team came back and won. Kyngstonn's teams usually win. He's a product of Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco High School, the same all-boys powerhouse prep program that produced the likes of MLB All-Stars Nomar Garciapara and Evan Longoria and two-time Super Bowl champion and current Kansas City Chiefs defen- sive back Trent McDuffie and multiple other gridiron greats who made it to the NFL. Anyone who suits up for Bosco grows accustomed to winning. There's something about Viliamu- Asa, though, that's just different on top of being the proto- typical Bosco Brave. His high school head coach, Jason Negro, wo u l d k n o w. S o would Notre Dame defensive coordina- tor Al Golden. "His level of play is certainly something that's spectacu- lar," Negro told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "I refer to him a lot of times as a uni- corn. In terms of football, he's just so versatile, so dynamic. He can pretty much do anything. He could probably play every position on the field. He's a once-in-a-lifetime type of guy." "I just see a young man that prac- tices with a purpose every day, and I mean detailed," Golden added. "I could talk about six to seven instances today where maybe the average player or the slightly above average player would tag off. "I see him trying to work to break down a stiff arm, I see him working a stab, I see him understanding the fit or when to leverage and when to go back- door. He uses every rep in practice." The average freshman gets humbled in practices. Viliamu-Asa isn't the aver- age freshman, just like he wasn't the av- erage 4-year-old. He's doing things kids his age can't, like anticipating where a play is going and getting there while another first-year linebacker might be a few steps late in the same situation. Their comprehension skills in real time aren't as sharp. Not many toddlers would have asked to get back into the game way back when, either. Viliamu-Asa understood the moment. Understood where he needed to be. He's still that way today. "He's very, very instinctual," Negro said. "He's always at the right place at the right time. That's probably his big- gest strength, intelligence." It's not like Viliamu-Asa came in as a know-it-all, do-it-all type of early en- rollee, though. He said he started lean- ing on the only senior in his position group, graduate student Jack Kiser, from the first day he arrived in South Bend in January. He takes Golden's coaching seriously, as he did Negro's. Innate, God-given, "once in a life- time," as Negro coined it, ability? Ab- solutely. But that's probably not even the half of it. Most of what has allowed Viliamu-Asa to be a regular contributor for Notre Dame in Year 1 is a product of dedication. Viliamu-Asa soaks up everything he can from Notre Dame linebackers coach Max Bullough, for instance, who was more recently in his shoes than Negro, Golden or anyone else not named Kiser or any other teammates. "He brings a great energy to the room," Viliamu-Asa said. "He's elevated my game as far as being violent, bring- ing the same energy every day and being intentional about what I do." There's only one time Taliuta could tell her son wasn't being violent, ener- getic and intentional on a football field; his first game back from the ACL and MCL tears he suffered during his fresh- man season at Bosco. The injury oc- curred at the tail end of spring 2021 in a shortened COVID season. Viliamu-Asa didn't play in another competitive foot- ball game again until the fall of 2022. His knee was busted up pretty badly, and he didn't take any chances coming back too soon. He wondered if he'd come back at all. "He doubted a lot that he would even play football again," Taliuta said. In his heart of hearts, though, he believed. Belief isn't just a mindset. It's actions. Intentions, as Bullough would have it. Viliamu-Asa didn't dis- tance himself from football because he couldn't play and had a dark voice in his head telling him that it was all over for him. He got closer to it and let a lighter voice block the baleful one out. "He was an inspiration for all of us because he certainly had every excuse in the world to not show up to practice or take periods off or not work out when he was supposed to be working out, and he never did that," Negro said. Viliamu-Asa went to meetings. Served and s t u d i e d a s a p l aye r- coach at practices. He only ever wasn't with the team when he was at therapy. "Which was very rare because he would sched- ule it around our prac- tices," Negro said. It still wasn't easy. Rehabilitation is never the smooth route. It's bumpy and full of bruises, literal and figurative. But ask anyone like Viliamu-Asa who's got- ten through it and they'll tell you the same thing. The grass is actually greener. "To remember what those days were like, I remember how I felt, the doubt that I had and other people had in my future, to know where I'm at, I'm blessed and thankful I got through that process," Viliamu-Asa said. "I didn't get through it by myself. I had a great support system. And I give God all the glory for that." Sometimes you do have to take a trip to the hospital instead of shaking (cry- ing?) it off and going back in. Viliamu- Asa has done both in his 15 years or so playing the game he loves. He doesn't know if he'll have to do either again be- fore he's done. That's out of his control. Within it? Competing every day like it's his last. No problem for KVA. "He'll do anything you ask him to do," Negro said. "That's always a treat, when your best players are willing to do any- thing, because it gets everyone else to fall in line." ✦ "His level of play is certainly something that's spectacular. I refer to him a lot of times as a unicorn. In terms of football, he's just so versatile, so dynamic. He can pretty much do anything. He could probably play every position on the field. He's a once-in-a-lifetime type of guy." BELLFLOWER (CALIF.) ST. JOHN BOSCO HEAD COACH JASON NEGRO ON VILIAMU-ASA