James Onwualu Leads Group Of Inexperienced Irish Linebackers
It’s a spring of change for Notre Dame and senior James Onwualu at the linebacker position.
Due to departures and injuries, the Irish are practicing with only four scholarship linebackers this spring, and Onwualu is the one heading the charge as the leader of the group.
Onwualu, who is entering his third season as a starter, finds himself alongside junior Nyles Morgan and sophomores Josh Barajas and Asmar Bilal. Junior Greer Martini and sophomore Te’von Coney are out for the spring with injuries, which makes the task of replacing departed starters Jaylon Smith and Joe Schmidt somewhat more complex.
Morgan will replace Schmidt at Mike linebacker, where he started four times as a freshman in 2014. But the Irish hope Barajas and Bilal can be versatile pieces of the unit.
“I think everybody’s excited about the competition,” Onwualu said. “We’ve got a lot of great young guys that are ready to play. Focusing on their game and trying to work on little things every day and keeping their heads focused on school and everything. We don’t want any distractions.”
Onwualu knows it’s his time to emerge as one of Notre Dame’s 2016 leaders — and, possibly, a captain — despite not having the vocal traits that helped Schmidt become an irreplaceable piece of Notre Dame’s defense the past two seasons.
“Obviously there’s great leadership from Joe in the middle, and I’m going to work on being more vocal. I think I was a leader last year — not as vocal as Joe Schmidt, which is tough to do. Just making sure everyone is on point,” he said. “There are some young guys that need to clean some stuff up and be a big player for us this year. I can help with that.”
In each of his first two media sessions this spring, head coach Brian Kelly named Onwualu as one of several players that have demonstrated early leadership skills on a defense that loses six starters.
“They’re all great players. There’s a standard that’s been set now and anything less than that is not acceptable,” Onwualu said of his young teammates. “We’re just pushing ourselves every day to get to that level and we’ve seen it and see how kids do it.
“We’ve seen how Jaylon studies film. We’ve seen how Jaylon works on the field. Matching that and then trying to push it even further.”
Through the early portions of spring ball, Onwualu likes what he has seen from Bilal and Barajas.
“I think Asmar stepped up today,” Onwualu said. “He’s been studying hard and trying to focus on what he can do to help and learn the defense. It’s tough as a scout guy [as he was] last year, not really being in the game plan every week to really stay focused and learn our defense, but I think the last couple weeks he’s done a great job of trying to learn as much as he can and now he’s putting that on the field.
“Josh too. I think Josh did a great job today as well. He stepped in there and has never played Mike before — making calls that he’s never called before, making movements he’s never done before — so I’m really excited about those two guys.”
The lack of experience this spring also allows Bilal and Barajas to gain a firmer grasp on the defense and potentially set themselves up for playing time in the fall as part of a defense that hopes its 2014 and 2015 struggles are in the rearview mirror.
“We’re expecting them to step up and learn the defense and there should be no step down,” Onwualu said. “They’re here for a reason and they’re all great athletes. Our walk-ons are all great athletes. … I’m expecting them to learn the defense and play some good ball.”
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