Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 79 Far more important to Bars is following Nelson's dominant mindset on to the field that centered foremost on breaking the op- ponent's will physically and mentally with an unrelenting fury. "If you turn on 56's [Nelson's number at Notre Dame] film, it's right there," Bars said of the example he strives to emulate. "… I can turn the film on all the time. I want to punish guys. I want to put them in the dirt. There's another level I can reach. "It's just the mentality you're going to finish no matter what. The play could be going away — and you have to finish them. You have to drive them into the ground when you feel them stumbling. The play might be 20 yards away, but you see tons of Q's plays where the ball wasn't anywhere near — and he was still putting them down." As the starting right tackle in 2016, Bars' physique was not nearly as chiseled and streamlined as his current 6-6, 318-pound frame. He felt the difference last year at right guard under then first-year strength and con- ditioning coach Matt Balis, but even more so after a second year under his tutelage. "He's been unbelievable for us," Bars said of Balis. Bars and Mustipher also were both in the interview rooms with Kelly to provide their input and evaluation on the new selection for offensive line coach that included three other candidates other than Quinn: Boston Col- lege's Justin Frye (now at UCLA), Indianap- olis Colts Joe Gilbert (now at the University of Arizona), and Wisconsin's Bob Bostad. What exactly transpired during the se- lection is uncertain, but both Bars and Mustipher describe Quinn as more inspi- rational or upbeat in how he presents his message without breaking continuity or ag- gression. "We wanted a guy who wanted to be here and that it meant a lot to him to be here," Mustipher summarized. "All the techniques have stayed the same, all the calls are the same, so not too much has changed," Bars added. Snap Judgment Prior to Mustipher's enrollment at Notre Dame in 2014 from Good Counsel High in Olney, Md., his defensive line coach there, Kevin McFadden, envisioned him as the archetype three-technique tackle on defense. "He plays with his hands well. He sees his keys well … he's just faster," said Mc- Fadden, whose own NFL aspirations at de- fensive tackle fell short because of injuries. "He's an offensive lineman with a defensive mentality." By the start of his sophomore year, Mustipher — whose younger brother P.J. is a top freshman defensive line prospect at Penn State — not only was ensconced on offense, but he was shifted to center, where he had never played in his life but was being groomed to replace Nick Martin (who also had never been a center). To Hiestand, Mustipher's frame, disci- pline, smarts (he speaks French and posted a 4.6 grade-point average in weighted courses at Good Counsel) and explosion were the prototype of what he wanted at center. Not that the adjustment was "a snap." During the miserable 4-8 campaign in 2016, the then-junior starting center Mustipher had become a poster child of how the entire operation was unraveling. Several errant snaps in a monsoon at North Carolina State helped result in a 10-3 loss and an infamous sound bite from head coach Brian Kelly on how "atrocious" the snapping was. A week later in a 17-10 loss to Stanford, a Mustipher snap that went out of the end zone for a safety helped propel the Cardinal's comeback. From the abyss, Mustipher has risen to the summit as the model Notre Dame student-athlete to emu- late on and off the field, and the epitome of Kelly's favorite buzz- word in 2017: grit. "Great student, great role model," Kelly summarized. "Represents Notre Dame football in the manner that you'd want your student-athletes. "He just has an immense amount of re- spect from his peers, coaches and players." "It speaks to the resilience you build at Notre Dame," Mustipher reflected on his ascent to a team captain. "This place is hard. It's hard academically and athletically. "It's not for the faint of heart. It's not left to the weak, timid or non-committed. … I was down, and it hurt. I just kept my nose to the grindstone and kept chipping away at the goals I had set for myself." Like Tranquill, Mustipher was enrolled in the College of Engineering and has re- ceived his undergraduate degree in com- puter science. He has contemplated a career in cyber security, and this spring he was so far ahead in his academic load that his lone class was Intro To Droid Building, which involves constructing a robot. The sacrifices his parents made so he could attend prestigious Good Counsel on an hour com- mute and the trust Hies- tand maintained in him through the difficult times are an impetus to do them proud. "When you have coaches who believe in you and teammates who believe in you, the sky's the limit," Mustipher said. "They never questioned me. Their faith in me never wavered. "And that meant the world to me, because as a center, you're touching the ball every play. It's going to start with you. And I un- derstood that, and I took that role and that responsibility to not let this team down." The decision to move Mustipher to center was not exactly a snap judgment, but the investment has paid off, and then some. "Five years ago, I didn't really know much of what was going to hap- pen here at Notre Dame," Mustipher said. "I knew I wanted to make a positive contri- bution to this program and this university in any way that I could." ✦ Mustipher, who is entering his third season as Notre Dame's starting center, has been tabbed as a preseason first-team All- American by Lindy's. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL