Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Self-Made Freak With a mix of God-given ability and Mom-given work ethic, Stephon Tuitt is storming on to the national stage this season By Dan Murphy There was something strange about Stephon Tuitt’s first touchdown run. OK, everything was strange about watching the 303-pound sophomore in knee braces pull away from Navy’s running backs in a 77-yard footrace, kicking up divots of putting-green turf in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. But Tuitt’s head is what set his run apart from most other defensive linemen who find themselves in the fantasy situation of having nothing in front of them but a fumbled football and open green grass. It didn’t move. Instead of bobbing from side-to-side to soak in the view and see what opposing player might be gaining on him, Tuitt kept his vision locked on the end zone — a runaway horse in blinders. “Cierre taught me that,” he said, referring to Notre Dame’s senior running back Cierre Wood. This, in a Volkswagen-sized nutshell, is Stephon Tuitt. He’s physically gifted enough to toss aside offensive linemen on one play and outrace running backs on the next. He’s diligent enough to prepare for both situations and work to better himself in either. In just one week it vaulted the 6-6 sophomore out of the massive shadow that cloaked his freshman year and into the national spotlight. ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. said Tuitt was potentially the best defensive lineman in the country. That isn’t news to Tuitt’s teammates. “When you combine God-given talent with work ethic you come up with Stephon Tuitt,” senior linebacker Manti Te’o said. “He’s been a great addition to our team and he’s going to continue to dominate game in and game out.” Head-shaking plays from the soft-spoken Georgia native were commonplace during fall camp, where teammates say Tuitt realized just how good he was and started getting comfortable in the Irish defense. On one occasion, Tuitt dropped into pass coverage to confuse the Notre Dame offense. Wood, Notre Dame’s leading rusher in 2011, ran a wheel route down the sideline. Tuitt stayed with him stride for stride for 40 yards. Usual defensive lineman verbs like lumbered and rumbled do not apply here. “He’s just a freak of nature,” fifth-year senior defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore said. “There are plenty of times when Tuitt is just ridiculous,” junior cornerback Bennett Jackson added. “Overpowering a kid across from him, basically manhandling; Tuitt, if he wants something done, he can do it.” Jackson saw that this summer when Tuitt opted to run with the defensive backs and running backs during summer conditioning drills rather than pick on players his own size. Tuitt was used to catching up to running backs at Monroe Area High School, an hour east of Atlanta. He’d chase them down from the other side of the field with regularity, one time building so much momentum along the way that he accidentally flung the back an extra three or four yards into the end zone. Tuitt has always had incredible athletic ability — at the age of 2 he hopped over his family’s six-foot backyard fence to go exploring — but what takes him from freakish to frightening is his drive to be better. For every gawk-worthy feat of athleticism there are days of extra sprints and ab exercises after practice. “Over time, I feel like that is just going to help me in the end,” he said. “Maybe it’ll be the last play and you gotta make a play or something. I would have that energy. That extra stuff I’ve been doing in the weight room will come out on the field. I’ve always had that ethic.” For that, he credits his mother. Tamara Bartlett has four boys. Stephon is her oldest, followed by a 14-year-old, an 11-year-old and a soon-to-be 3-year-old. Tuitt says all three of his little brothers will be his size one day, and his mother’s ability to keep enough food on all of their plates taught him how to work hard. Bartlett, a Walton County deputy sheriff, runs a tight ship at home. There was no chaos in her house full of boys. She was a major factor in Tuitt, a five-star recruit coveted by everyone, landing at Notre Dame. “I won't say that I’m strict. I just don’t have room for foolishness,” Bartlett said. “I’m for football, but my main goal for him is the academics. You get that out of the way, I don’t care about the football.” That message sank in for Tuitt as well. He excelled in school this summer, which he and his coaches say went a long way toward helping him get more comfortable at fall camp. Bartlett said she saw the work ethic she had been drilling into him ––the past 18 years start to grab hold this year. His maturation could not have come at a better time for Notre Dame. The Irish needed another star to emerge to push their defense from preventers of big plays to creators of big plays. Tuitt leads a defensive line that is considered to be Notre Dame’s best in a generation, tasked with providing enough pressure to ease the tension on an inexperienced secondary. “He’s been on this mission of, whatever it is, and it’s not just football, it’s everything in his life,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said. “It’s film study ... taking notes, and I think [he is] just a very, very driven young man right now.” So, Tuitt charges off with his shockingly breakneck speed into his sophomore season leaving opponents in his wake. His focus doesn’t wander from side to side, it’s set on the quickly approaching goal in front of him. There’s something strange about this run, and it should be a pleasure to watch.