SOUTH BEND — Sixteen defensive linemen are listed on the official Notre Dame football roster for 2025.
Four more 2025 signees are set to enroll when summer classes start on June 9: Christopher Burgess Jr., Joseph Reiff, Dominik Hulak and Gordy Sulfsted.
Not one of them will be viewed as a pure “Vyper” this season. That’s because Notre Dame, with former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash as defensive coordinator, has done away with the positional distinction for its defensive ends.
“We kind of got away from a true Vyper,” fourth-year head coach Marcus Freeman said recently. “We don’t need to just put guys into the boundary and say, ‘You’re a guy that can drop (in coverage). Let’s only play you at Vyper.’ It just limits the opportunities to get on the field.”
Positional flexibility was at a premium last fall when the top two Irish Vypers (Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore) both went down with season-ending injuries before the calendar even flipped to October.
With Junior Tuihalamaka and Josh Burnham primarily stepping in and freshmen Bryce Young and Loghan Thomas flashing as well, the defense overall remained stout.
Now that Al Golden has returned to the NFL after three seasons as coordinator, Freeman has taken the opportunity to simplify the nomenclature. Henceforth, depending on the situation, all Irish defensive ends will be able to play on the left or right side for defensive run game coordinator Al Washington.
“Your end to the field can drop,” Freeman said of the new arrangement. “Your end to the boundary can drop. I think it helps you become a little more balanced and unpredictable.
“Usually, we only drop the guy to the boundary. That’s why we called him the Vyper. We can drop anybody now because they’re playing left and right. … It makes those guys a little bit interchangeable.”
The body types off the edge for Notre Dame range from Thomas (6-foot-4, 213 pounds) and Traore (6-4, 238) through Burnham (6-4, 249) and Tuihalamaka (6-2, 254) and up to Young (6-7, 260) and Botelho (6-3, 261).
“I love it; they’re all back,” Freeman said. “That’s going to be a position where we’re going to have a lot of depth. We have to find ways to get them on the field, roll them. … The season is long. You’re going to need depth.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Bye-bye ‘Vyper.’ Why Notre Dame football wants versatile defensive ends in 2025
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
