Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 19, 2024 15 nior right tackle in his first year as a starter. Someone who reaches out, lit- erally, to those who go out of their way for him. And to those who don't, for that matter. Newsome said Wagner of- ten helped opponents up off the ground after pancaking them in games. The 6-foot-6, 291-pound behemoth has a heart to match his substantial stature. A "gentle giant," Newsome called him. His Irish teammates view him the same way. "He's very goofy," sophomore run- ning back Jeremiyah Love said. "He likes to joke a lot. He's a very cool person to be around inside and outside the locker room. A really fun person to be around. "When it comes to football time and time to work, he locks in. But outside of football, he's a really cool dude." Mukes, Wagner's high school head coach, sees him that way too. "Besides the football player he is, he's a great person," Mukes said. "A great human being." NOTHING IS PERFECT Ironically, the aforementioned physi- cal stature was an issue early in Wag- ner's college career. He showed up in South Bend as an undersized tackle prospect, tipping the scale at just 245 pounds. That wasn't ever going to be enough to push entrenched starters Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, both of whom have made starts as NFL rookies this year. Last year, though, while Wagner was downing 2,000-calorie protein shakes and getting his body right for the day of Alt and Fisher's eventual departure, he thought, "Who better to learn from than those two?" Rhetorical question, but the answer is nobody. Wagner has notebooks full of tips and tricks from Alt and Fisher. He of- ten goes back to a piece of advice from Alt: "Nothing will be perfect." Having to hear how you're never going to be big enough to be a starting tackle at Notre Dame is not perfect. The abnormal ca- loric intake required to prove doubters wrong isn't either. Observing what it takes to achieve desired outcomes from two all-time standard-setters? As close to perfec- tion as it gets. "It made it so much easier," Wagner said. "I think having guys that were some of the best tackles in the coun- try, period, that's setting the example. Whether that's Joe being detailed-ori- ented or that's Blake with an aggressive mindset, you can take away from those guys as much as possible." At some point, though, Wagner had to go out on Saturdays and do it himself. And he has. It took two years of standing on the sideline, watching two players who were ready to play as true fresh- men, but Wagner's journey was always going to be a lengthier one. As long as the destination was the same as that of Alt and Fisher, Wagner wasn't worried about the time it'd take to get there. Now here he is, one-fifth of the al- ways highly touted and/or scrutinized Notre Dame offensive line. The gentle giant who'd wave at his offensive line coach, Newsome, in the hallways at Wayne and then again on the field at the IAC is violently waving his arms at opposing defensive linemen. He's been all Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman could've asked for in playing his part. "Aamil's done a great job," Freeman said. "In his first year starting, he's played well. … Like every other coach and player, [he] has to continue to improve. But I'm really proud of the way he's performed as our right tackle. He works consistently. He's a great team player." HOLDING HIS OWN Wagner drew a tough assignment for his first career start — 2023 Big Ten sacks leader Nic Scourton, a former Purdue Boilermaker, and the rest of a talented Texas A&M defensive line. He admit- ted to being nervous going into a season opener with implications severe enough to make a fragile individual falter. By halftime, though, he had acquired the self-assurance all first-time starters must muster up if they're to be success- ful. Wagner reaffirmed he belonged as Notre Dame's starting right tackle in a game the Irish ultimately won, 23-13. He held up enough in the trenches, all things considered, to make such a score attainable. "It was really just a confidence builder knowing I could hold my own and continue from there," Wagner said. Getting to that point began in earnest when Wagner had to routinely block — or try to block — all-time Notre Dame sacks leader Isaiah Foskey as a scout teamer in 2022. Wagner mentioned Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills as defensive linemen who not-so-nicely welcomed him to this level of ball. Eventually, though, those "welcome to Notre Dame" moments be- came fewer and farther between. In reps in spring ball and preseason training camp, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock saw that Wagner could play winning football against anyone on the Irish schedule. This wasn't a situation where Denbrock and of- fensive line coach Joe Ru- dolph determined they needed to make a change, like they did in replacing fifth-year graduate senior Tosh Baker with true freshman An- thonie Knapp at left tackle. This was quite the opposite. Denbrock and Rudolph knew Wagner possessed the mettle of a starter. "I loved, from the beginning, his consistency," Denbrock said. "And he's an incredibly intelligent young man. … Even though he didn't have a lot of experience from a game atmosphere standpoint, nothing that was thrown at him by our defense — which, as you guys know, throws a lot at him — shook him. He was always able to pull himself back and refocus on the task at hand. And he's continued to do that." He's been doing it since his days in Dayton. There are reasons Wagner lights up when he sees Mukes and Newsome. They're the ones who got him going in this endeavor. There are reasons Mukes and New- some make efforts to remain a part of Wagner's life, too. Sometimes a stu- dent-athlete so exceptional comes around that you just can't let him go. Wagner is one of those. "To see him finally reap the fruits of his labor and to be out there repre- senting Notre Dame and Wayne High School, it's an honor," Mukes said. "It's a special thing." ✦ "He's a very cool person to be around inside and outside the locker room. A really fun person to be around. When it comes to football time and time to work, he locks in." SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK JEREMIYAH LOVE ON WAGNER