In recent years, Notre Dame has produced several NFL defensive lineman, but the Irish have lacked true depth.
That changed in 2024 as position coach Al Washington’s unit faced a wave of injuries and still helped Notre Dame reach the National Title game.
Entering 2025, the Irish may not have the most future draft picks in the country, but few programs can match their depth as Washington’s group can go three or four deep at every spot.
“The unique thing is, a lot of guys in the room played,” stated Washington. “We have some freshmen and a couple redshirt guys that haven’t yet. But with our philosophy on defense, it’s to kind of go in waves. The season is longer. We experienced that last year. You have to develop from the youngest all the way up. That’s a benefit.”
Washington has also built a culture of humble competition. Every player wants snaps, but they buy into the benefits of rotation and know they must bring it daily with the next man always ready to step in.
“My job is to prepare as many guys as I can,” explained Washington. “There’s only 4-5 on any given down, that is what it is. The culture in the room has to be one where you appreciate at any given moment your number is called and the objective is to play the best ball we can.
“That’s the message we preach, our guys preach. A lot of the guys around last year saw the benefit of that because we had some tough injuries and some things happened. That’s the mindset we have and that’s an advantage at the end of the day.”
The defensive end position was a strength a year ago entering the season. Notre Dame then saw its top two pass rushers go down with season-ending injuries before the first month of the season had been completed.
It paved the way for younger guys to get playing, and the defensive end room enters 2025 with a plethora of experience.
”The experience was phenomenal,” Washington said. “Their play and their confidence were enhanced. I don’t think Junior (Tuihalamaka) played a snap in the first two games. To see how he finished the year, he was one of our more productive guys.
“Then Josh (Burnham) finished the year, he had two sacks against Ohio State. Those guys are two good examples of how being smart, tough, athletic, all those things, but being smart helps you through those moments to elevate your game.”
Notre Dame has tinkered with its edges from a schematic standpoint with defensive coordinator Chris Ash arriving in South Bend.
With new defensive coordinator Chris Ash on board, Notre Dame has made schematic tweaks to the edge spots. The vyper position and weakside/strongside designations are gone. Now it’s simply left and right defensive ends, giving the Irish the flexibility to exploit matchups and get lined up faster against tempo.
”I just think you have to know more, not just one specific thing,” Washington explained. “You have to understand the concepts. You have to understand ‘Hey, I’m to the boundary so what issues can come? What does the defense need?’ And vice versa, to the field. You have to have more of an understanding of the big picture than you would if you were just boundary or just field.
“A positive is that down the road we can put the best two on the field at the time situationally. There’s some differences there but they’re smart and we’ve been working at it.”
The X-factor for Washington’s group is sixth-year senior Jordan Botelho. The Hawaii native suffered a knee injury in game three last fall and then had to have pectoral surgery earlier this summer.
Botelho is dressed and going through individual drills in fall camp, but Washington isn’t rushing him back as he knows it’s a long season.
”You have to be smart,” said Washington. “You have the luxury to be smart. Nobody should be like ‘Hey, you’re back in and getting 50-60 reps. We have to win this year.’ We have to be the best version of us. But we have the luxury to also make sure we’re smart with people. We’re not putting people in bad spots.
“Jordan is a guy in his sixth year, he has a lot of football ahead of him, we hope. We have to be smart with him for his career, too. We have a chance to do that because we do have a lot of depth. But I’m excited to get him back. He’s worked his tail off to get back to where he is now, and when the time comes, man, it’s going to be good to see 12 out there smashing people.”
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