"He's an offensive lineman with a
defensive mentality."
Notre Dame offensive line coach
Harry Hiestand has had his own ide-
als about how to utilize Mustipher's
skill set. Beginning with the Music
City Bowl preparations for LSU dur-
ing Mustipher's freshman season in
2014 — in which he redshirted — he
began to audition at center and was
soon groomed to be Martin's heir.
His 2015 sophomore campaign in
which he took 40 snaps served as an
apprenticeship.
"Probably just having to snap the
ball and play football," Mustipher
said when asked what the primary
adjustment was. "You're definitely
closer to the defensive linemen than
you are at guard, so you have to
Mustipher seized the starting role at center from day one this spring and progressed impressively.
PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS
