Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/259072
BY LOU SOMOGYI J ust in case Notre Dame would have struck out at defensive tackle in the final weeks of the recruiting campaign, Our Lady of Good Coun- sel High School defensive line coach Kevin McFad- den was going to provide counsel to the Irish staff. Also a Gospel singer who has cut several al- b u m s , M c F a d d e n w i l l sing from the mountain- tops that his most recent protégé, Sam Mustipher, should be a defensive line- man. Having helped send or coach about 50 players to college football, includ- ing Miami Dolphins line- backer Jelani Jenkins, the 47-year-old McFadden ex- celled as a defensive tackle at the Uni- versity of Cincinnati before his NFL career was cut short by injuries. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has confirmed that Mustipher will re- main an offensive guard, but McFad- den still believes there is a higher ceil- ing for him on defense. "He's an NFL three-technique [lin- ing up on the outside shoulder of an offensive guard]," McFadden said of Mustipher. "The defensive side of the ball forces you to twitch and react faster, and lets you focus on burst, le- verage and foot placement, which are all strengths of his. He plays with his hands well. He sees his keys well … he's just faster. "He's an offensive lineman with a defensive mentality." Under head coach Bob Milloy, who has won 382 games and eight state titles in 44 seasons, Mustipher was prioritized on offense first. "My head coach was more of an offensive coach, so he wanted to make sure I was first well rested to play the offensive line," Mustipher said. A basketball player his first two years at Good Counsel, Mustipher put all his concentration on football and academics his last two seasons after Good Counsel finished among the nation's top five teams when he started as a sopho- more. "I wanted to give every possible amount of time that I could work- ing on my technique, working on my strength, conditioning," Mustipher said. Academically, on a 4.0 scale he achieved a 4.6 grade-point average while taking weighted courses. At Notre Dame, his goal is to major in aerospace or civil engineering to pre- Where Guard Sam Mustipher Plays Is Academic Mustipher is listed as the No. 134 overall prospect nationally, the No. 9 offen- sive guard in the country and the No. 2 player in Maryland by Scout.com. PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS