Cade Stover Idolized Former Ohio State Linebacker, Notre Dame Assistant James Laurinaitis

“He was tough, played fast and hard back when the game was tough, hard and fast. That’s what we’re trying to bring back.”

If Ohio State redshirt junior tight end Cade Stover makes a significant impact during Saturday’s game against Notre Dame, Fighting Irish graduate assistant James Laurinaitis will have nobody to blame but himself.

That’s because Stover grew up idolizing Laurinaitis, who was a three-time All-American linebacker, two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and recipient of the Lott, Nagurksi and Butkus awards during his career with the Buckeyes from 2005-08.

Of course, Stover was only in elementary school at the time, but he still modeled his game after and wanted to play linebacker at Ohio State because of Laurinaitis.

“That’s who I was going to be. That’s what I was supposed to be,” Stover said during his media availability on Tuesday afternoon. “He was tough, played fast and hard back when the game was tough, hard and fast. That’s what we’re trying to bring back.”

Stover ultimately switched positions and hopes to bring that same mentality to the offensive side of the ball. That starts on Saturday against the Fighting Irish, who – in addition to Laurinaitis – are coached by former linebacker Marcus Freeman and also have former linebackers coach Al Washington on staff.

“With all the Ohio State ties on Notre Dame, there’s a lot of stuff riding on this,” Stover said.

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