Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the 5-11, 182-pound Russell worked at re- ceiver for the Irish in seven-on-seven drills. A week before camp, the individual who rushed for 4,557 yards and 50 touchdowns in his high school career was told by the staff that he would be moved to cor- ner, the team's primary need. With minimal experi- ence at corner, Russell asked his former coach how he might fare. "This is a good thing because the coaches are talking about you and know they can depend on you," Ondriezak told him. Ironically, another moved to flanker for the 1977 national champs, but back to de- fense his last two years. Note: Freshmen Luther Bradley (1973), Todd Lyght (1987), Tom ners. Carter (1990) and Bobby Taylor (1992) all were starters as freshmen (Bradley in every game) — but it was at safety. Bradley, Lyght, Carter and Taylor later became All-America cor- — Lou Somogyi West Coast native, slot man DaVonte' Neal, was thought to be a potential corner prospect in the current freshman class, but it was Russell who was selected. "Oh yeah, it's tough," Russell said of playing corner. "In high school, I used to think corner was one of the easiest spots … all you've got to do is stay in front. Here, even if they're slow they can still beat you if you take your eyes off your man, if you take your eyes off the quarterback if it's Dave Duerson started seven games at corner in his freshman season. He went on to make four consecutive Pro Bowl teams from 1985-88 with the Chicago Bears. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS