Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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four last season, the fewest by the team leader in that category since Ethan Johnson had the same total in 2009. Yet Okwara found himself sharing time with the 6-3½, 255-pound Trum- betti at weakside end last fall and this spring. An early enrollee in the spring of 2014, Trumbetti was on the preci- pice of becoming the first Notre Dame freshman defensive lineman to start an opener since Anthony Weaver, a future second-round pick, in 1998. Trumbetti didn't get his initial start until the Music City Bowl upset of LSU, but his skills as a playmaker in his tag-team role with Okwara showed with 15 of his 21 tackles being solo, including 5.5 for lost yardage (one sack) and five quarterback hurries. His quickness, athletic skills (he played wide receiver and running back, and returned kicks as a high school senior) and non-stop motor will keep him in the mix. The front line will remain senior dominated with Day, Okwara and nose guard Jarron Jones, and junior Isaac Rochell is at strongside end. However, according to first-year Notre Dame de- fensive line coach Keith Gilmore, both Trumbetti on the edge and freshman Jerry Tillery in the interior are the next men in at potentially two different po- sitions. Trumbetti worked at both the weak- side and strongside end positions this spring, and in pass-rushing situations Rochell moved inside with Day, while Trumbetti and fellow sophomore Kolin Hill, who plays Sam linebacker, were inserted as the edge players. "He's probably closest to being a starter-type guy," Gilmore said of Trumbetti. "We have to see how ev- erything works out with Jarron and Tillery. That could be a great matchup as well." Trumbetti couldn't help but notice Tillery in the interior. "Some of the things he can do … he'll do something crazy and you'll wonder how the heck that happened," Trum- betti said of Tillery. "He does some freaky things." To facilitate his progress, Trumbetti has learned how to study film more closely and use his hands better, as Day does in the interior. What has not changed is Trumbetti's top asset — his non-stop energy. "I think that's just something you're born with," Trumbetti said. "I'm not as physically gifted like other people, so I have to make up for that some other way. I feel like what sets me apart from everyone else is I have a high motor and I'm tough and I'm never going to give up. "When you're not a freak, you re- ally have to study film, study the offensive linemen and see their ten- dencies." In a 3-4 alignment, Trumbetti would be an outside linebacker. In the 4-3, his frame is more suited as an end with several other classmates. Hill is only 230 pounds, and at 255 Trumbetti is hardly at his physical peak. Three other sophomores are in development phases: "WE NEED TO REALLY JUST WORK TOGETHER AS A D-LINE TO GET SACKS. THERE'S NOT ONE GUY THAT'S GOING TO HAVE 15 SACKS." TRUMBETTI