How Jack Kiser, Max Bullough usher in new era at linebacker for Notre Dame

This story appears in the Blue & Gold Illustrated 2024 Notre Dame Football Preview. To order your copy of the 160-page, full-color, glossy magazine, which includes opponent previews, Fighting Irish position previews and position previews like this one, click here .

This is Part 1 in a four-part series previewing the Notre Dame linebackers.

Graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser considered a few factors when he decided to return to Notre Dame for his sixth season.

Unfinished business was one. He wants to win in South Bend. The opportunity for more consistent playing time was another, with fellow graduates JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau entering the NFL. There’s the academic aspect, of course. While it wasn’t the be-all and end-all, knowing he’d play alongside stud defensive tackles Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills helped, too.

There was still one lingering question, though: Was he just too old?

“I was joking with Sam [Hartman] , ‘Was it weird being the old guy? Because that’s going to be me,’” Kiser said in December. “I’m going to be 24 years old [in September], and there’s going to be a 17-year-old a couple lockers down.”

Ultimately, thanks in part to conversations with Hartman and departed sixth-year safety DJ Brown , Kiser decided it was worth it. He’ll be tasked with both mentoring a young, talented group of linebackers and anchoring the middle of Notre Dame’s defense.

“Now if I can get the opportunity to consistently be on the field and run the show, be the vocal leader, be the energy-giver and really run the show and take command of the defense, … I feel like that’s something I can show people I can do,” Kiser said.

Alongside Kiser, the Irish will feature junior Jaylen Sneed , sophomores Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry and freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa . It’s a new era at linebacker for Notre Dame, and if spring practice was any indication, it will be a successful one.

First-year linebackers coach Max Bullough — the de facto linebackers coach in 2023 as a graduate assistant — said in April that he’s open to employing a five-man rotation, or at least putting all five in the game plan for different situations. They were all that impressive this spring.

“It’s different this year,” Bullough said, referring to Bertrand, Liufau and Kiser playing the vast majority of the snaps in 2023. “We got guys that can move, we’re flying around and we’re gonna keep them fresh.”

Some of the highlights: Sneed drew rave reviews from Bullough and defensive coordinator Al Golden, with the former going as far as to say he might have made the “biggest jump” out of anybody on Notre Dame in spring practice. Bowen and Viliamu-Asa looked like wrecking machines, both in the middle and off the edge. The speedy Ausberry practiced so well that the Irish experimented with him at nickel, where he held his own in the Blue-Gold Game.

The youth movement has been great for Bullough, who didn’t have to do much last season. Bertrand, Liufau and Kiser could have coached themselves. But this year, Bullough has to mold all that talent into a top-tier linebacker corps. He’s embraced that challenge.“It’s awesome,” Bullough said. “It allows you to really put your imprint on the room.”

Notre Dame scholarship linebackers

Listed after the class year are the years of eligibility remaining.

Mike

• Drayk Bowen (6-2, 239), So./3
• Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (6-3, 240), Fr./4
• Kahanu Kia (6-2, 230), So./3

Will

• Jack Kiser (6-2, 231), Gr./1
• Preston Zinter (6-2, 235), So./4
• Bodie Kahoun (6-3, 221), Fr./4

Rover

• Jaylen Sneed (6-1, 222), Jr./3
• Jaiden Ausberry (6-2, 216), So./4
• Teddy Rezac (6-3, 199), Fr./4

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