SOUTH BEND — Imagine being a coach in the OG Ducks youth football program and having a couple of middle-school prospects like Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Madden Faraimo on your roster.
It calls to mind the Texas youth sports combo of Clayton Kershaw and Matthew Stafford a generation earlier, but there’s no denying that was the start of something big in southern California and now at Notre Dame football.
“Me and Kyngstonn go back to middle school,” Faraimo said of his fellow linebacker on Monday evening after practice. “We played for the same youth team. I met him there very briefly, and then in high school we played each other.”
Viliamu-Asa starred at St. John Bosco in Bellflower, Calif. Faraimo, a year younger, started out at San Diego’s Cathedral Catholic as a safety but ended up at linebacker for Trinity League rival JSerra Catholic.
“Crossed paths, but nothing really too in depth until I started getting recruited at Notre Dame and we started having a lot of conversations,” Faraimo said. “He would reach out whenever I needed him to. I could ask him any questions, so the relationship really grew then.”
Since Faraimo’s early enrollment in late December, when he was able to participate in drills during the College Football Playoff run, their bond has only strengthened.
“He’s just been a huge piece of me being comfortable at Notre Dame,” Faraimo said, “and me trying to fit in and get my feet under me.”
Faraimo’s steady rise to earning more playing time on defense was achieved with Viliamu-Asa’s constant mentorship.
“He’s a big leader-by-example kind of guy,” Faraimo said. “I see it every day. He comes in early, he’s always here late, in the film room and off the field. In the classroom he really handles his business.
“I think it’s just overall life perspective that Kyngstonn has that I’ve learned from. I think it’s special.”
That dynamic now changes for a while in the wake of Viliamu-Asa’s season-ending left knee injury against Syracuse. Then again, maybe it’s not all that different.
“Kyng’s down, and with anyone that’s terrible news to hear,” Faraimo said. “But especially Kyngstonn, such a great person on and off the field. So that’s devastating news, but he’s not going anywhere. He’s going to be the leader he is on the team.
“He’s going to be right there with us. It’s an emotional time, but Kyngstonn’s right there. He’s going to be the rock he’s been for us.”
Defensive coordinator Chris Ash called Viliamu-Asa “a special player” whose lost production will have to be offset “by committee.” That group includes Faraimo.
“Madden will step up and get some extra responsibility,” Ash said in the wake of Faraimo’s five-tackle, one-sack game against Syracuse.
Madden Faraimo comes from a family of athletes
A top-100 recruit who was rated the fourth-best linebacker in the country by 247 Sports Composite, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Faraimo comes from an athletic family of high achievers.
Older brother Matt Faraimo, 27, played volleyball for USC from 2017-20 and was a standout setter at 6-3 and 200 pounds.
Cousin Salo Faraimo played football for the Trojans in 2003, and another cousin, Preston, played at Hawaii from 2000-01.
Older sister Megan, 25, is a professional softball pitcher who led her Talons team to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League title earlier this year. She also has pitched professionally in Mexico and represented Team USA at international events after earning first-team All-America honors twice at UCLA.
As a freshman in 2019, she helped the Bruins win the Women’s College World Series for the first time in nine years. Now her younger brother is tasked with helping Notre Dame football end a national championship drought that dates all the way back to 1988.
Asked to identify the best athlete in the family, Madden Faraimo threw his head back and laughed.
“We’re all going to argue that it was ourselves,” he said. “But at the end of the day, me and my brother give it to my sister. She has a lot of accomplishments, and she’s been doing some great things. We always try to follow after her footsteps.”
What did Madden learn from watching Megan over the years?
“Her competitive spirit is easy to see,” he said. “Her emotion that she plays with is contagious, not only to her teammates but for her brothers and whatever fans are watching. It’s special to see.”
A standout on the youth diamond himself, Madden Faraimo did take some cuts against his big sister, but that was a one-off.
“I did one time, but I was pretty little, so she was throwing it easy,” he said. “I’m always going to say I could hit off her.”
Bill and Marcie Faraimo put a quick kibosh on those backyard battles.
“I don’t even remember the age I was,” Madden said, “but I’d always ask my mom if I could hit off (Megan), and she would always stop it. You know the competitive spirit is going to be flowing with us.”
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: Notre Dame football’s Madden Faraimo was raised on ‘competitive spirit’
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
