Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/531612
100 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY BRYAN DRISKELL I t has been an interesting couple of seasons for junior safety Max Redfield. Coming out of Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School, Redfield was one of the nation's elite prospects. Rivals ranked him as a five-star recruit, and ESPN rated him as the No. 23 overall player in the country. Notre Dame was able to turn its 12-0 regular season and run to the BCS National Championship Game into a premier recruiting class, with linebacker Jaylon Smith and Redfield the crown jewels of that haul. To make it even bet- ter for Notre Dame fans, the Irish beat out archrival USC for Redfield's signature. When Redfield arrived in the fall of 2013, the expectation — fair or not — was that he would quickly rise up the depth chart. That did not happen, with Redfield spending the regular season as a backup safety and regular special teams player. It was not until the postseason that Redfield finally got his opportunity, earning his first career start. Redfield made two tackles in Notre Dame's 29-16 Pinstripe Bowl victory over Rutgers, with the Irish defense holding Scarlet Knight quarterback Chase Dodd to just 10-of-28 passing for 156 yards. Dodd was picked off three times by the Notre Dame defense, which dominated the Rutgers offense (236 total yards and four turnovers). Getting that late start seemed to encourage Redfield, who put together a quality spring and entered the 2014 season with a great deal of excitement surrounding him. Redfield was strong during fall camp, making a number of plays on the football and drawing praise from the Irish coaches. He seemed poised to turn his immense potential into on-the-field production. "Max Redfield probably is one of the most talented safeties from an athletic ability standpoint in the country," former Notre Dame secondary coach Kerry Cooks said of Redfield during camp. "He has awesome range, awesome quickness, awesome speed and he's a physical player. … When he's on the field, he's locked REACHING HIS PEAK After a breakout performance in the Music City Bowl, Max Redfield is ready to thrive in 2015 In his first season as a starter, Redfield ranked second on the team with 68 tackles and intercepted one pass. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA