walk-on in 2011, he was nervous the
scholarship players would accept him.
"You go from being someone that
was so valued at your high school to
someone that's a scout team guy. You
do everything you're supposed to do
and transition from a position of lead-
ership to a position of followership if
that's a word," Schmidt said.
"You just have to flip your brain. It's
a difficult transition, but that's what's
great about Notre Dame. The guys on
the team were so good about bringing
me under their wing and bringing me
into their circle and being so kind to
me. I'm just trying to do everything
they showed me in the beginning."
After suffering a dislocated ankle
in the Nov. 1 win against Navy last
season, Schmidt missed the final four
games — all Irish losses — of the regu-
lar season and the Music City Bowl
victory. He missed all of spring camp
before returning to the field over the
summer.
Kelly wasn't ready to announce
Schmidt as 100 percent healthy lead-
ing up to the season opener against
Texas, but the linebacker disagreed.
"I feel healthy. I'm not really wor-
ried about it," he said.
When it's all put into perspective,
perhaps an outsider would think
Schmidt has little to worry about after
all he has achieved the past four years,
but the fifth-year senior insists he still
has more to accomplish in his final
season.
"Even with this incredible news, I'm
also thinking about practice today and
all the things I need to get better on
and the things we need to improve as
a defense and how we can get better,"
he said. ✦
