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Israel Mukuama Excited To Hear From Notre Dame Football

By Kevin Sinclair

Nov 21, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting Irish takes the field to start the second half against the Boston College Eagles at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting Irish takes the field to start the second half against the Boston College Eagles at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Notre Dame football staff are scouring the nation in search of fits for their new defensive roles. Israel Mukuamu is one of those players.

Louisiana safety Israel Mukuamu is being targeted by the defensive staff at Notre Dame to play rover in their 4-2-5 base scheme. I caught up with 6’4.5″, 195-pound bayou state star to ask him about his contact with Irish staff.

“Coach Lea followed me a few days ago. We talked and he said he really likes my film, also told me they are looking for a rover which is a safety, nickel, outside linebacker and wanted me to camp for them and get to campus if possible,” explained Mukuamu.

Mukuamu spoke to me about the offers he has collected, as well as who has been recruiting him the most.

“I’d say Wake Forest, Indiana, Tulane, Purdue, and Oklahoma State. They all have offered me,” he stated. “I have 12 offers….South Carolina, UNC, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, UTSA, Old Dominion, Southern Mississippi and SMU,” Mukuamu added.

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I asked Mukuamu if he’s planning on making a trip to South Bend to meet the staff and tour the campus. “Yes sir. I’m considering visiting and if I do, it’ll be sometime in the summer. I don’t know much about coach Lea but he seems like a good guy, very serious about what he does and is excited about me,” he explained.

“I know that Notre Dame is a good academic school and they get it done on the football field as well. They’ve been sending me letters but now I’m really excited because someone from the staff got in contact with me, so I’m ready to get this process started,” exclaimed Mukuamu.

Mukuamu is fairly new to Louisiana as he moved to the state just months ago. “I actually moved to Louisiana over Christmas break. I moved here from South Carolina,” he explained. Previous to his move, Mukuamu was a student-athlete of Berkeley High School in Moncks Corner in SC.

Mukuamu is a tall, rangy, hard-hitting safety who has fairly developed pass coverage skills. He finished his junior season with 63 tackles, 7 pass break-ups, 2 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

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Due to his stature, frame, and combination of strong run support skills and experience in pass coverage, Mukuamu is certainly a fit at the rover position. It’s definitely early in the game in terms of this recruitment, but Mukuamu certainly has Notre Dame’s attention. Stay tuned for my film breakdown that will be posted at SlapTheSign.com tomorrow.

This year, junior Asmar Bilal and senior Drue Tranquill are the first two athletes Notre Dame will play at the rover position, as of now.

This will be the first time the Irish will use a dedicated defender in this role in their base package and fans are highly anticipating the change and what it will contribute to the overall production of the defense.

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