Notre Dame Football: Ade Ademilola Talks To Slap The Sign About His 3 All Americans

Football is a family thing for the Ademilola family.

Notre Dame received commitments from defensive lineman and twin brothers Justin and Jayson Ademilola last year, starting off their defensive line class with two All-Americans.

I thought it would be interesting to get the perspective of the Ademilola twins father, Ade Ademilola.

I reached out to him yesterday and he had a lot to tell me about his family, how Justin and Jayson came about playing football and what it’s been like watching the recruiting process unfold.

After doing some research, I found out there is another impressive Ademilola brother who is an All-American as well.

“There’s a few things that not a lot of people know. Marcus is the reason why Justin and Jayson play football. They always strive to be Marcus. Marcus is a very, very good student. He’s an Academic All-American at Bucknell,” Ade explained.

“When Marcus was in school, if you look at his old video, he wore number 7. That’s why Jayson wears number 57 and Justin wears number 7. They always wanted to be like Marcus.”

“Marcus might probably be the best player of all of them. What happened was we lived in central New Jersey, in Jackson New Jersey. So Marcus went to a public school. We had no idea that our kids would go to college for free. It wasn’t part of the script at all.

"“The reason why the boys wanted to play football was to follow Marcus.”"

Marcus Ademilola’s ascent to division 1 football wasn’t something the family saw coming, Ade explained.

“Until Marcus’ junior season, we started getting letters that our son could actually go to school for free. It wasn’t something that we had planned. It wasn’t something we knew, it just happened for us that way.

“What we found out with Marcus’ recruiting was that a lot of schools initially contacted us but they couldn’t believe that a kid with this size and speed and could play that well was in Jackson, so that kind of stunted his recruitment a little bit.”

“I was talking to the coach at Virginia. He didn’t find out about Marcus until 3 days before signing day. He said, he can’t send somebody to come see him that fast. So, a lot of schools kind of passed up on him like that.”

“He had a chance to go to Ohio University and Toledo but he decided to go to Bucknell for the education. For us, education is key.”

Because of the unfortunate way things went with Marcus’ recruitment, the Ademilola family decided to take a different approach with the twin’s football careers.

“What we did differently, the Twins then said to themselves that they wanted to play the best football in the state. As luck would have it, I have a friend (who’s son) went to St. Peter’s Prep. I called him and asked him if he could set up an interview.”

"“They told the coach, they said, “listen, we know we live in Jackson, we know you play big football in north Jersey, we want to make a commitment to come to school everyday,” which is one and a half hours each way, “and if you’ll take us, you’ll never regret it.”"

“The guy looked at them, he looked at me and he said, “You know what? Let’s do it.” So that’s how Justin and Jayson ended up at St. Peter’s Prep.”

Notre Dame’s quarterback Brandon Wimbush lead St. Peter’s Prep to a State Championship in his senior season. Ade remembers that well.

“That team was phenomenal. You have Brandon (Wimbush), at Notre Dame. You have Minkah (Fitzpatrick), at Alabama. You have (Jordan) Fox, at Stanford. You had a lot of guys like that everywhere. It’s a phenomenal school, academic-wise. It’s a phenomenal, powerful football program combined.”

Ade also gushed about his daughter Mya, who’s quite the athlete herself.

“My daughter, she’s only 14 years old, she almost 6’1 all ready. She’s unbelievable. She plays soccer and she loves track. She holds a few records in track as an eighth grader. She just started playing basketball this year and she’s one of the best high school eighth graders.”

I asked Ade about his twin son’s recruitment. Here’s what he had to say.

“Justin and Jayson got offered about 20 scholarships all ready. Initially we were looking at committing to Michigan. Coach Harbaugh was very aggressive at recruiting them. I’ve actually met coach Harbaugh about 3 or 4 times. I know him very well.”

“I knew that Michigan’s education was good but it wasn’t one of the better educations possible. So I was looking at Stanford or Notre Dame. When Notre Dame came calling to St. Peter’s Prep, they didn’t offer them.”

This didn’t surprise me as Notre Dame’s football staff tends to want recruits to get on campus in South Bend before they commit. They do this not only to be able to work them out and see what they have physically, but to see if they’re a fit at the University.

“They just came to see them physically. They said they weren’t going to offer them before they came to campus. One thing a lot of people don’t know about them is they don’t mind proving themselves.”

“Justin and Jayson spend 6-8 hours per week extra outside of school to better their skills. They go to trainers that help them with their hands and feet and movement. They just want to be good.”

I asked Ade about the family’s relationship with the Irish coaching staff. Here’s what he told me about what has gone on through all of the changes that have occurred.

“Initially we were very close to Coach Booker. I have to say that since Coach Booker left, Notre Dame has done an exceptional job to make sure the boys are welcome, to make sure the boys know what is going on.”

“The boys have a fantastic relationship with Coach Elston. I think he’s a fantastic guy. As much respect as I have for Coach Gilmore, I think them working with Mike Elston might actually be a better thing.”

“We met coach Elko. He’s fantastic. We sat down with him twice on a one on one and he showed us how he wants to use them, what his plans are for them.”

Ade then explained to me what about the intensity of having two sons ranked in the top 400 in the country.

“You would be amazed at how many calls they get, even with being committed to Notre Dame. Coach Larry Johnson (Ohio State) has been calling Jayson for the last two days, telling him that he’s been watching his D line plays and that he might be the best D line player in the country,”

“There’s been so many offers that they have that they don’t even publicize (them).”

“Florida State has offered them, too. LSU has offered them and they really want them, you know. They want to do everything (to get them). Ohio State was the first school to come to their school.”

"“We’re committed. They get calls every day. When we went to Clemson the other weekend, Clemson offered them a scholarship. They offered them when they were on the plane. On the plane they offered them!” Ade said with a chuckle."

Notre Dame stopped by St. Peter’s Prep last month and offered a scholarship to one of the players from the twins class. Ade spoke about him.

“Shayne Simon is an unbelievable kid. Shayne is a smart kid and is an unbelievable player. He’s one of those players, also, who should be in the top 100. I think he would be an added benefit to Notre Dame from a football.”

“The position that he plays fits him for what they want to do, and I really hope he gets to Notre Dame….I hope he picks Notre Dame because he would flourish very well.”

Ade spoke to me about his frustration and confusion with the recruiting rankings that his sons have received.

“Of course, the ranking doesn’t show that and I don’t understand why. Those guys just want to sell newspapers. If you look at their technique and form, there’s just no way. I mean, when Justin and Jayson went to campus….within 30 minutes of them working out, they pulled them to the side and asked “who’s training you guys?”

“Justin and Jayson had to go one on one with O lineman from the ’17 class. They beat those guys like 70-30. They (the OL) won a few of the snaps but my boys won most of them. After that, they said “you guys are special.”

I asked Ade about Justin, specifically about what role the Notre Dame staff see’s him taking on in Mike Elko’s 4-2-5 scheme. Justin is listed as a DE/OLB.

“Basically, what they’re telling us is that they’re going to use him as a ‘drop.’ A drop at Notre Dame is between a defensive end and a linebacker. Most of the time, he’s going to be standing rather than having his hand in the dirt.”

“You never know. They can tell you something then when you get there, they change their minds. I’ve seen it many times. Justin is an unbelievable pass rusher. I don’t think he gets enough credit. He’s really uses his hands well. He can chase the quarterback.”

Ade then spoke to me about the currently committed class and how their interaction is so important for the Notre Dame football program’s recruiting department.

“They are great kids, put together. They often talk to each other. They have their own private message board. They talk all the time. They go out of their way to talk to other guys that they think would be a good addition to Notre Dame and I think that the results are showing.”

“It wouldn’t shock me if this class was completed before the season starts. Unless the coaches want to keep a couple of spots specifically for another kid. It wouldn’t shock me that before Sept. 2nd, when the season starts, that this class will be done.”

"Regarding why they chose Notre Dame over other schools, “They’re good schools, don’t get me wrong. They’re very very good schools. Notre Dame is just the best place and we’re glad to be a part of it.”"

Must Read: Top 10 Recruit Wish List - 2018

Ade made sure to tell me about his son’s trainer in New Jersey.

“The guy who trains them in New Jersey, he was the same guy who trains Rashan Gary. They all train together. He’s unbelievable. Everything you see Justin and Jayson do on the field, is what he taught them. As good as they are technically, he will make them even better.”

I decided to give him a call – Pete Kafaf of The Lab Football Academy.

Kafaf has trained NFL talent as well as elite college football players including Rashan Gary of Michigan, who was the #1 recruit in the country from the class of ’16, as well as players from Penn State, Boston College, Duke and Stanford.

I asked him about the Ademilola twins and how he see’s them developing in his program.

Here’s what he had to say.

“They’re work ethic is high-level.”

“What’s fun about them is they’re twins. Any time you get twins together, they’re eight years-old again. They’re constantly on each other about who’s better, who’s faster. It’s kind of fun. They kind of keep it light in a way from that sibling rivalry that they have.”

“When it comes down to it, they want to be the best. ‘They want to be great.’ In coaching, you use that phrase a lot and they want to be great.”

“It takes a lot of qualities to be able to perform at the division 1 level, and to compete at the next level and Jayson and Justin both have the qualities to compete at the next level. They’re fiercely competitive. They’re very focused.”

“(My program) is high-level. It’s division one technique. It gives them a unique advantage when they go against your run-of-the-mill offensive lineman. Jayson and Justin know how to go in and know what that offensive lineman’s doing and how to defeat it.”

“I would give them drills to practice at home. Jayson and Justin REALLY took to that. You could see the improvement. They would come back the next week, studied and improved. That’s the kind of players they are.”

“At the next level you have to be physically gifted and you have to be emotionally gifted. Not every kid has that. Jayson and Justin do. They have the type of competitiveness and fire to get it done at the next level.”

“I trained Rashan Gary when they were his age . Technically, they are farther along than Gary was going into their senior season. Rashan Gary was the most physically gifted player I have seen, but Jayson and Justin are further along from a technical standpoint.”

Those were very impressive words from a highly regarded trainer.

Here is a video of Rashan Gary and Michael Dwumfour training with Pate Kafaf

I expect the Ademilola twins to continue their hard work on and off the field in South Bend.

In the end, I believe their father Ade will be able to say that his sons made a significant impact at the University of Notre Dame.

Here are Jayson and Justin’s junior year highlight films.