Matthias Farley Hopes To Carve A Special Teams Niche In The NFL

While former Irish captain Matthias Farley moved positions multiple times in his Irish career, what was most consistent was his standout contributions on special teams. He’s hoping those skills help him carve out a long career in the NFL.

As Notre Dame’s special teams MVP in 2015, Farley constantly made plays — forcing fumbles, pinning opponents deep in their own territory on kickoff coverage and securing punts inside the 20-yard line.

Farley is realistic that special teams might be his most appealing skill for a potential employer.

“Obviously I've played a lot of different positions here,” he said. “I think that makes me pretty well-rounded in the secondary and then obviously I love special teams and I think that's probably going to be where I hopefully find my niche at the next level.”

Few — if any — of the 17 Irish players that participated in the program’s pro day Thursday impressed NFL scouts as much as Farley. He ran a surprising 4.45 in the 40-yard dash while posting 21 reps on the bench press.

“I feel like I did well. It's just an awesome opportunity to be out here in front of these incredible coaches and put all of the hard work from the past couple months on display,” he said.

“It was crazy. I came to pro day and there were a lot of guys still on the team still here that came and watched and I remember being that guy not too long ago. It's crazy how it comes full circle.”

Farley is a longshot to be drafted, but hopes his pro day performance helped boost his stock with NFL teams.

“I think it was very important,” he said. “Even for guys that went to the Combine it was very important. There are so many scouts and coaches here so to be able to work out in front of them is [great].

“I was very motivated from the very beginning, but seeing [the scouts] in here makes it real and it gives you a little extra juice.”

That being said, Farley said he’s just going to enjoy this process rather than fret over whether he gets drafted or not.

“I'm just going to give it to God,” he said. “I don't want to stress about it. I just want to try to do all I can do to put myself in the best position and then it's out of my hands and up to God and let him decide.”