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Nyles Morgan Becoming The New 'Old Soul' Of Notre Dame Defense

Junior Nyles Morgan is embracing his new leadership role at Mike linebacker.
Junior Nyles Morgan is embracing his new leadership role at Mike linebacker.

Even as a freshman in 2012, future Notre Dame two-time captain Sheldon Day was described by then Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Bob Diaco as an “Old Soul” because of the perspective and wisdom he displayed beyond his years.

Now that Day is moving on to the NFL, his Old Soul successor could well be junior Mike linebacker Nyles Morgan. In recent years back in his Crete, Ill., area, Morgan and his father, Thomas — a former linebacker for the Western Illinois Leathernecks — have gone to area shelters to help folks in need, from helping prepare food to mopping floors, or other tasks. The purpose is to appreciate daily blessings, understand humility and receive through giving.

So when Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder has vociferously been on Morgan the past two years to elevate his game and football knowledge, the staff admired, and was even amazed, at how well Morgan could take “hard coaching.” Head coach Brian Kelly described Morgan as one of the more thick-skinned young players he’s seen, and a relentless bull when it comes to never backing down.

“I feel like the things I’ve been through or seen in my life are a lot worse than someone yelling at me,” said Morgan, opting not to share the woes he’s seen. “That didn’t faze me because I could see through his yelling … I get the whole thing why. I always stayed strong and always learned from him every time I did something wrong.

“It comes from how I was raised. Thank God for my mother and father. Things I had to go through in my past — the world is a lot colder than football. I’d rather deal with the stresses of this than the things I’ve seen in my life. I can take all this. I know how cold things can really get.”

In February 2014, Morgan and guard Quenton Nelson were the crown jewels of Notre Dame’s recruiting class. On Rivals.com’s Top 100, Nelson received the highest ranking among the Fighting Irish recruits (No. 29), while Morgan, a USA Today first-team All-America selection, was second (No. 72). Nelson redshirted as a freshman, but Morgan received some Freshman All-America accolades after recording 47 tackles (seventh-most on the team) while replacing injured linebacker and Team MVP Joe Schmidt over the final five contests.

The stats were fine, but during the freshman Morgan’s time in the lineup, the make-shift and ravaged defense faltered in consecutive losses to Arizona State (55-31), Northwestern (43-40 in overtime), Louisville (31-28) and USC (49-14) before upending LSU in the Music City Bowl (31-28).

Once Schmidt returned for a fifth year and as a captain in 2015, Morgan totaled only 41 snaps on defense in 13 games, with his prime action coming on special teams.

Seventeen former Notre Dame players participated this Thursday in the Pro Day showcase for NFL scouts. One of them was not Schmidt. It manifested the polarization many Notre Dame faithful had about Schmidt. On one hand, he was a deeply esteemed and lionhearted overachiever. On the other, he did not possess the star power or physical skills of Morgan — so why not roll the dice with the latter?

The simple reply every time was that Schmidt’s football knowledge/on-field leadership trumped Morgan’s physical prowess. This spring, the rebuilding defense — with the loss of six starters, most notably Day plus Butkus Award winner Jaylon Smith — has made it easier for Morgan to seize the leadership mantle.

“Impressive,” replied VanGorder when asked earlier this week about Morgan’s progress. “How he’s persevered, how he’s shown toughness, went through some hard times. This is his time. He’s done a really good job. I think he’s a much different middle linebacker right now relative to the other players’ trust. His communication has been solid. He’s been very good so far.”

At 245 pounds, Morgan also is 20 pounds heavier than when he enrolled, further enhancing his ultra-physical nature.

“[He’s] bringing that physicality to every practice, that physical toughness to our defense,” Kelly said. “Joe Schmidt was a smart player, he was a heady player — but he wasn't the most physically gifted player that we had. Nyles Morgan is a tough, physical football player.

“What we've asked him to do is be himself. You're not Joe Schmidt. He's doing a great job of getting us lined up. Now that you've got that and that's not an issue, he's a physical, tough player. We want that personality to come out and if that does, he will bring others around [him] and that toughness will start to show itself.”

Morgan said it was around midseason last year when the VanGorder defensive vernacular began to click with him. Now that he has the position all to himself (sophomore Josh Barajas is the one undergoing the major learning curve now at Mike), his confidence in the system and in his skills are combining to bring him to the forefront.

“I feel like my knowledge of the game has grown so much,” Morgan said. “There’s so much I know now that I wish I knew then. And then just my physicality — I’ve put on 20 pounds. With that and then adding the technique, I feel I’m way better now than I was then. I finally got all that down, got all that together. … The offense moves, I can check it right, I can check it where I can give alerts.”

Still, his calling card as a player is aggression and relishing contact. He believes it is his job as the middle linebacker to set a defensive tone of not being just physical but even “savage.”

“You have to,” he said of putting it on himself to set the tone. “You have to show the young guys what to do and what to expect for next year. If you don’t, I feel like things will fall apart. This is what VanGorder wants, and I believe this is what the rest of the team wants as well. A lot of our guys, they like playing physical, so me as the middle linebacker, how would I be looking playing soft or not playing to the level that I can?”

In a year’s time, his role has changed dramatically.

“You can’t think of it as pressure,” he said. “I think of at it as my chance, and I embrace it.”

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