Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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where have you gone? with Lanza, a more outspoken player. "Byron may be a quiet person by most standards, but simply by watching him on and off the field and how he handles himself is an example for all of us," said running back Mark Green in an interview with Blue & Gold Illustrated during the 1987 season. "He really exemplifies what a captain should be." Spruell's hard work helped him overcome the early knee injuries that could have ended his career before it ever really started. The two-sport star from Aurora (Ohio) High School blew out his knee as a high school senior and remained on crutches for most of that winter. Spruell came to Notre Dame to play on the defensive line, but his knee slipped when he tried to make fast adjustments on that side of the ball. The following year head coach Gerry Faust moved Spruell to offense, where he could have more control over his movement. He started training as a center, but eventually moved out to the tackle position where he became a regular in the starting lineup. "They put me at center. Once you get rid of snapping the ball, the blocking is going to be easy," he said. "I thought it was masterful in terms of the coaches at that time. It was a tough transition, but moving from center to tackle became easier." Switching from defensive line to center to tackle earned Spruell his reputation as a determined worker among coaches and teammates. "I can honestly say that I don't think Byron Spruell has ever missed a work- Spruell oversees 14,000 employees as a vice chairman for Deloitte, an international accounting and business consulting firm. photo courtesy byron spruell out in his four years here," said Gary Weil, the team's strength coach at the time. "You could ask anyone associated with the program about Byron and you wouldn't find one person that would have anything bad to say about him." Spruell was entrenched at tackle by the time Holtz took over as the team's head coach. He said the mood of the team, which was coming off an embarrassing 58‑7 loss in Faust's final game, changed the minute Holtz walked into his first team meeting. Spruell's final season put some im-