Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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6 NOV. 16, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA J aylen Sneed's junior season reached an inflection point much sooner and under more unusual circumstances than anyone could've imagined. It was only Week 5, and Notre Dame had just notched its second ranked win of the season to keep its College Football Play- off hopes alive in front of bye week No. 1. Sneed played what is still a season-low 12 defensive snaps in the Irish's 31-24 victory over then-No. 20 Louisville, though. He didn't join his teammates for the singing of Notre Dame's alma mater, a time-honored tradition. He walked up the tunnel to the locker room early to "use the bathroom" instead. In this era, it isn't unreasonable for anyone who saw Sneed make that trek — of which there were plenty of people who did — to immediately think "he's gone." The transfer portal welcomes anyone with open arms, espe- cially those who feel like they're being spurned or aren't receiving enough playing time. But to Notre Dame head coach Mar- cus Freeman's gratifying approval, Sneed chose hard. He remained focused on helping the Irish navigate the season in any way he could, and a month after basically being a non-factor against the Cardinals he turned in his best indi- vidual performance of the year against Navy. He was up over 20 snaps for the first time since pre-Louisville, and his Pro Football Focus run-defense grade of 85.5 was the best of any Notre Dame player who appeared against the Mid- shipmen's run-centric offense. Freeman named Sneed Notre Dame's defensive player of the game. Defensive coordinator Al Golden said Sneed was deserving of a moniker that incorporates more time than a 60-minute ballgame. "I think he would have been practice player of the week before being named player of the week," Golden said. "We told him that going in. He practiced with a lot of confidence, a lot of urgency." That being the case for a guy who clearly was not happy with his personal situation just a few weeks prior is a mi- crocosm of what Freeman is searching for within every Notre Dame player who might not be scoring touchdowns like Riley Leonard or Jeremiyah Love or picking off passes like Xavier Watts but is still an invaluable resource and asset to the entire Irish operation. Sneed is the gold standard, for a lack of a better term, for staying the course. "Every week your role can change, right?" Freeman said. "That's what I re- spect about Jaylen but everybody on our team — you still got to put team glory in front of yourself. "Jaylen Sneed put himself in a po- sition to have some individual glory. Played really well. But it was because we had team glory, right? If we didn't have team glory, nobody would be asking me about a whole bunch of individuals from that game in a positive way." Even after the Navy game, Sneed still sits fifth in defensive snaps this season among Notre Dame's five-man linebacker rotation. Freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu- Asa and sophomores Jaiden Ausberry and Drayk Bowen play more than he does. To no surprise, so does sixth-year graduate student and team captain Jack Kiser. That's a reality Sneed has come to grips with. "It's been a little difficult, but having a five-man rotation, knowing that there are players just as good as you makes you want to be better every day because they're go- ing to come with the same mindset every day, so you have to come with the same mindset every day," Sneed said. "When your mind starts to waver, and if their mindsets aren't wavering, obviously your reps are going to go down." This is Notre Dame. The Irish are led by a defensive-minded head coach who played line- ba c ke r a t O h i o S ta te just two decades ago. Of course there are going to be players from every recruiting class who can play the same position as well or better than someone like Sneed. But what if he's just a late bloomer? What if his game rises to the level of that of Viliamu-Asa and Bowen and he's that type of contributor in the second half of his career? "Everybody grows and develops and changes at different times in their career," Golden said. "Maybe this is his time." If it is, Sneed has himself to thank for listening to Freeman, for putting team glory before individual accolades. There is always the ability to rack up the lat- ter so long as you're committed to the former. Freeman doesn't preach that mantra just to sound smart. It is smart. "My message will continue to be 'We have only one option; it's choose hard,' and that's what we have to do to con- tinue to elevate as a program," Freeman said. ✦ UNDER THE DOME TEAM GLORY Irish players learn individual accolades surface after putting the betterment of Notre Dame first Junior linebacker Jaylen Sneed had his best game of the season with 9 tackles in the win over Navy. PHOTO BY BILL STREICHER