Jaylen Sneed Navigates Bumpy Road To More Playing Time For Notre Dame

Freshman linebacker Jaylen Sneed has worked hard and packed on muscle as he works toward more future playing time

It’s been a bumpy, uphill road to get to the top of the depth chart for Jaylen Sneed. Truth be told, it’s been a slower climb than the former five-star recruit thought it would be coming out of high school in South Carolina. The distance from Sneed’s home town, Hilton Head to Columbia, SC (roughly 154 miles) probably seemed closer than the path he has taken since arriving on campus nearly a full year ago.

"It was definitely tough,” Sneed said following Notre Dame's most recent practice. "Being an early enrollee, first coming in and being a highly recruited guy, I did think I was going to play a little bit toward the beginning of the season, but I didn’t. It just made me want to work harder and keep becoming better, because I knew that one day, I'd be able to play on the field.”

Notre Dame fans thought they had their patience tested waiting to see the highly touted 6-1 linebacker on the field this season, it was harder for Sneed.

The long wait was challenging, but Sneed kept working harder to find his path to playing time; any playing time. While he kept working and practicing, Sneed sought the counsel of both his mother and the head coach who recruited him when he was still a defensive coordinator.

"It was definitely hard for me,” Sneed admitted. "Definitely, a lot of conversations with my mom and her just helping me through it, and Coach (Marcus) Freeman always saying that there's a bumpy road, and that really helped me through it, because there's going to be bumps in the way. It's never just going to be perfect, how you want it to be. So, you’ve just got to keep grinding, and then when your chance comes, you’ve got to make the most of it.”

The days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months as Sneed continued to work behind the scenes, far out of the spotlight of primetime games against top-10 teams like Ohio State and Clemson.

Sneed readily admits there were reasons for his longer than expected developmental time working mostly with the scout team early in the season. Things the best player on the field on any given Friday night in high school don’t have to worry about – like being able to see a pulling guard, reading keys and seeing a moving tight end when he needed to.

He never did any of that in high school. He just relied on his ability, his motor and his high-end speed to take care of everything. Sneed sat through the first nine games of his freshman season before finally making his game day debut on Nov. 12 against Navy. And then suddenly, things began to click.

"Definitely, about the week before Navy,” Sneed recalled. "Like it all clicked for me. Me and (linebacker assistant James Laurinaitis) were working together every day. And it just started clicking. And then I played in that Navy game, and I never looked back from there.”

Pass coverage is another area Sneed said he is still working on as he adjusts to playing Rover. He had just one tackle in his action against the Midshipmen, but said playing the option was easier, because of the limited passing attempts from the triple option offense.

Being on campus for nearly a full year has paid its own dividends, too. Sneed says he has gone from 197 pounds when he showed up for the spring semester and winter workouts last January to 220 pounds as he prepares for his first bowl experience against his home state South Carolina Gamecocks.

The extra 23 pounds aren’t just beach muscles, either. Director of Football Performance Coach Matt Balis has given Sneed, already an athletic specimen, more power to take on opposing offensive linemen and tight ends. 

"He's just gotten me so much stronger,” Sneed said of Balis. "I've gotten way more powerful (with) my punch, able to go off the edge if I want to, able to long-arm defenders when I need to. It just made me a lot more physical guy, because it makes me feel stronger and like I can do it.”

Sneed said he wants to be in the 225-230 pound range when next season roles around. But in the meantime, he has taken advantage of the extra practice time he and other young players have received in the early December Gator Bowl practices.

"I feel like I'm getting a lot more opportunities,” stated Sneed. "I'm a lot more comfortable with the defense. I feel that (defensive coordinator Al) Golden believes in me, he trusts in me. And he always wanted me to be the player that I can be, and it just took time. Over the season, just to keep chopping at the wood.”

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