How Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts became a bona-fide ballhawk
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Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts tied Wisconsin’s Ricardo Hallman for the most interceptions in college football last season, with 7. Despite entering 2023 with 0 in his career, that wasn’t an accident.
“When you look at guys like Kyle Hamilton and Jeremiah Owusu[-Koramoah] and X, they have this innate instinct about football,” former Irish safeties coach Chris O’Leary told Blue & Gold. “They’re violent, and they’ve got ball skills.”
What makes Watts an effective interception hunter? First, O’Leary explained, he’s explosive and twitchy. His top speed is good, but the quickness with which he reaches it allows him to patrol the back end.
“That, to me, is what separates him athletically,” O’Leary said.
Second, Watts’ background at wide receiver makes him a natural pass catcher. Notre Dame saw the switch flip in fall camp as a consistent playmaker.
“He started doing it in fall camp dang near 90 percent of the time,” O’Leary said. “He was doing the things that separated him and put him at that level. All the details of the calls, the jobs, all that stuff. He got to that point in fall camp, so I was pretty confident he would do it in the season, too.”
Watts’ first career interception came against North Carolina State Sept. 9, and he got another against Duke Sept. 30. He then rattled off 5 picks in three games: 2 against USC, 2 against Pitt and 1 at Clemson.
On the agenda for next season, Watts explained, is 10 times the film study and 10 times the extra work off the field. He believes he still has some hurdles to clear in terms of being detailed and avoiding slip-ups on certain calls.
He tries not to live in the past or rest on his accolades, one of which is one of college football’s most prestigious honors. Watts won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which goes to college football’s national defensive player of the year.
“I feel like it’ll have some type of weird voodoo or whatever the word is if I keep thinking about it,” Watts said. “I just don’t want to think about it too much.”
2023 FBS Interception Leaders
RankPlayer, SchoolINT1.Xavier Watts, Notre Dame7Ricardo Hallman, Wisconsin73.Mike Sainristil, Michigan6Billy Bowman Jr., Oklahoma6Dillon Thieneman, Purdue6
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