Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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20 APRIL 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE A shley Pierre, known to Adon Shuler and the rest of the Ir- vington, N.J., community as "Coach Smoke," recognized Shuler's forced fumble on Georgia run- ning back Trevor Etienne in the Sugar Bowl because he'd seen it before. Not the exact play, to be clear. Only Shuler's Notre Dame coaches and team- mates had seen it, because as the soph- omore safety told his old high school coach at Irvington High after the game, the Irish had practiced the blitz that led to it earlier in the week. "I just told him, he needed to wrap that guy up," Pierre joked. "That guy's gotta fall next time." Pierre had seen Shuler make the same kind of play when he played for him at Irvington: a pivotal, game-changing play in a monumental game. He thought back to Shuler's 45-yard punt return for a touchdown in the 2021 state champi- onship game, in which the Blue Knights defeated Northern Highlands for their first-ever title. "He was able to take a punt return back to the house after getting hit about four or five times, making some third- down stops and just coming down from 12 yards deep, striking and just killing," Pierre said. When he watched Shuler's prolific 2024 season at Notre Dame, Pierre felt like he was inside his former player's head. He understood the kind of mindset Shuler played with. His dad, Don Shuler, has a Tasmanian devil tattoo from when he starred for Irvington as a 1996 gradu- ate, because he played the same way. "I think one of the [Michael] Jordan quotes was he hates losing more than he likes winning," Don Shuler said. "He kind of has that mentality." That's a mentality, the Shulers will tell you, that you have to have in New Jersey's inner city. He became a core player at Notre Dame by bringing it with him to South Bend. IRVINGTON TOUGH Safety Adon Shuler brings a physical edge to Notre Dame's defense