Why Thomas Harper will play more nickel than safety for Notre Dame
Contact? Even with a still-recovering shoulder, Notre Dame graduate defensive back Thomas Harper fears none of it.
Not even from powerful Irish running back Audric Estimé.
“I honestly think it’d be good to get it done in practice, to get a big hit in practice, just mentally-wise,” Harper said in a response to a question about saving his shoulder for the games as opposed to Estimé.
That’s a bold statement, especially if Estimé gets wind of it.
“Tell him to meet me in the hole, man,” Harper said, jokingly. “Tell him.”
Physicality, tackling and prowess against the run are big reasons why Notre Dame likes Harper so much as its nickel cornerback. The Irish plan on playing a lot of nickel this season, and they need someone who can line up in the low slot and make tackles in the box or in the high slot and make tackles against quick screens.
Enter Harper and his jet-black visor. The Oklahoma State transfer works out with the safeties in individual drills and has a home in the safety room, but who Notre Dame primarily sees as a nickelback.
“[Perimeter play and quick screens are] the first thing you have to be able to stop,” Notre Dame safeties coach Chris O’Leary said. “[Harper’s] nickel skills, that’s the first thing you see, but you also see him snagging off blocks and making tackles, blitzing with twitch and violence. That’s an element that he’s going to bring to our team this year that’s going to be fun to watch.”
“That’s a big part of my game,” Harper said. “I love contact. That’s a big thing for me, just not being a liability in the run game.”
Harper will split time at nickel with cornerback Clarence Lewis. O’Leary, though he deferred further questions about Lewis to cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens, is excited about that. Harper, he said, is a better man-to-man cornerback and has four years of experience doing so from the slot. Lewis, however, stands out with his awareness in zone coverage.
Whoever winds up as the “starter,” both Harper and Lewis will see the field a ton for Notre Dame. The Irish see both as major factors for their defense.
“Both of those guys we see as starters because of the way they play the game,” O’Leary said. “That’s been the biggest competition of fall camp.”
If everyone stays healthy, Harper probably won’t play traditional safety much for Notre Dame. He’s paying attention to the safeties, taking “mental reps” when he’s off been off the field in the fall, but his actual reps have come as a slot corner. However, Harper sees his experience as a traditional safety as a plus.
It’s important for two reasons. First, if injuries do happen, Harper can help out on the back end if necessary. And second, he implied that the time spent at safety in the past made him a better run defender in the present.
“I feel like coverage-wise, I’m doing what I’m supposed to and the biggest thing for me is just being able to really just be versatile,” Harper said. When I need to cover, I gotta be a corner, when I need to fit [against the run], I gotta be a safety. Just being able to do both at a high level.”
Regardless of his position, O’Leary thinks Harper’s presence might affect the Notre Dame defense on a larger scale.
“He’s a high-motor guy,” O’Leary said. “When he’s out there, you can feel his energy. He’s brought a lot to our defense.”
O’Leary said that in response to a reporter asking if Harper plays with “reckless abandon” toward his own body, and the third-year safeties coach wholeheartedly agreed. Nickel cornerbacks who play that way are typically some of the most fun defenders to watch.
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