Notre Dame Football: Isaac Rochell Talks All Things Irish With Slap The Sign
Isaac Rochell is currently training in Scottsdale, Arizona for April’s NFL Draft.
Isaac Rochell recently received his degree and has his sights set on the NFL. After a great showing at the Senior Bowl, there has been some recent buzz about his play and projection going forward.
I spoke with Isaac yesterday for the first time. I had many questions for him that ranged from his recruitment as a 4 star defensive lineman out of Georgia, to the vibe on campus during his squad’s adversity during the ’16 season.
First I asked him about his training regimine in Scottsdale. Her’s what he he told me.
“I’m just kinda chillin’, recovering from last week and kinda getting my mind right for the combine.”
“I’m training with a guy named Ian Danney, he’s a trainer out here in Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s a 6 day-a-week thing…..he’s been successful at it in previous years. I’m trusting his expertise cause I know he knows more than I do.”
“It’s been a grind. It’s been a lot of hard work but it’s a lot easier without school so I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.”
“It’s super nice. I just finished school and got my degree last week. It’s a blessing having graduated at Notre Dame. I really do believe that Notre Dame is the best school in the country and I’m so glad that I got to play football there for four years and get my degree.”
“It was a proud moment for me so I’m pretty excited about that.”
I then got into his high school recruitment. I asked Isaac what the reaction was in Georgia when he committed to Notre Dame.
“Everybody was surprised. Some people were like “who is Notre Dame?” Some people didn’t get it. A lot of people criticized the decision a lot but at the end of the day, I had to stick to my guns. I had to be proud about what I had done.”
"“For a lot of people, if you don’t understand Notre Dame, there’s no point in trying to explain it. A lot of people were like “man, why are you going to Notre Dame,” and what not. I definitely got a lot of criticism for the decision that I made.”"
He then went on to explain what sparked his interest in Notre Dame and how he came about making the decision to spend four years in South Bend.
“I knew nothing about Notre Dame growing up. I knew nothing about Notre Dame through my recruiting process. Then coach Booker came to my school and offered me. It was at that point that I really started to look into it.”
“I remember there was one teacher that was from Ohio that said that it was a big deal that Notre Dame was coming all the way down there. My mom was from Minnesota and she was like “man, you need to really look into that.””
“Previous to that, I didn’t really know that much about it so my Mom kinda forced me to go visit and that’s where I started to learn, but growing up, I didn’t know anything about Notre Dame.”
Being that Notre Dame is what it is academically, I asked him what his academic focus was like going into University.
“My Mom was a school teacher so there was always a focus on academics. Notre Dame was definitely appealing to me.”
“My brother went to the Air Force Academy which a very good academic school. And he was older than me so that was sort of my expectation when choosing a school. I wanted to follow in his footsteps and go to a good academic school.”
Isaac Rochell told me about what grabbed his attention during his visit as a high school senior.
“Being around the players. I got to know Romeo Okwara really well on my first visit. I liked walking around campus. The campus sells itself. It’s a unique place. You realize that there’s nothing like it and that’s when you fall in love.”
Click here for Isaac Rochell’s Bio on UND.com
Regarding the tough season Isaac just went through as a captain, I asked him what the overall attitude was like on campus and in South Bend.
“The moral and overall vibes were pretty low. I think as a team, we did a really good job of staying positive. We stayed hungry. We has some young guys who did a really good job of responding to things at 4-8.”
“I think that from a bigger picture, the fans and the students didn’t necessarily understand what we understood. We new we had a good team. We just had to keep grinding and our time would come.”
“I think some people gave up hope and chalked it up us a rebuilding season. It was frustrating as a player. Our own fans, in our stadium, booing people. It was just very un-enjoyable in dealing with them, although that’s not to say that’s how all the fans were.
“We had lots of fans who were super loyal and stayed with us the entire season but our campus and around South Bend were not good.”
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With Isaac moving on with fellow starter Jarron Jones, I asked Issac Rochell if he could speak about some of the young, talented sophomores at Notre Dame in ’17. Here’s what he had to say.
“I think they’re great players and I think they’ll have more chances to get on the field and showcase their abilities. I’m excited for them. I think Daelin (Hayes) has absurd skills. I think he’s got great traits as a player.
“I think Khalid (Kareem) has a lot of the same thing. I think Khalid got a lot better throughout last season. I think he didn’t get to play that much so he didn’t get to showcase his ability. I think both of them will get to contribute a lot this next year.
“Also, there’s some other guys along the defensive line who will get to contribute a lot and do really well.”
I then asked Isaac about new defensive coordinator Mike Elko and what the buzz is about him as an addition to the football program.
“I don’t know much about him as I haven’t even met Mike Elko but at the end of the day, the guys are excited about him and that’s all that matters. If you can get guys bought in and excited about playing football and going to practice and winning games, that’s most important.”
“Ultimately, I’ve talked to guys and they’re excited about everything. I think they have a lot of positive energy moving forward as far as where they think the program will go and where they see themselves as player, but I think the general consensus is that people are excited about coach Mike Elko.”
With Isaac Rochell having played all 4 years at Notre Dame and facing a lot of talent during his tenure, I asked him who was the most talented, and difficult to compete against, offensive lineman he had faced.
"“The best tackle I ever went against was Zack Martin. That’s including every team I ever went against. Just an incredible player, incredible tackle, incredible blocker. I have nothing but unreal things to say about him.”"
In closing, I had to ask Isaac Rochell what it was like running out onto the field for the first time at Notre Dame stadium, (something that was a dream of mine while growing up). Here’s what he had to say.
“Other than being SUPER nervous, knowing I was going to play, there was nothing like it. I remember listening to what everybody said and then actually running out, it was really cool. I hardly even remember it cause I was so nervous.”
“I mostly remember my last time running out, Senior Night. That was an incredible experience.”
"“There’s nothing like running out at Notre Dame stadium when it comes to game day experience."