SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football sophomore Jeremiah Love took over Chris Tyree's No. 4 jersey after he transferred to his home state of Virginia.
Will Tyree's next role as a slot receiver be Love's next in the hand-me-down department? Love certainly looked like a natural running pass route in the open portion of the sixth spring practice Wednesday morning.
“Seeing Tyree do that and transition from running back to slot definitely gave me confidence because I saw someone who actually did that and did it well.” said Love. “It showed me that I can do it, too. Maybe I can do it better.”
Tyree's transfer last spring proved to be permanent as he finished with 484 yards, including 26 catches, three touchdowns and an average of 18.6 yards per reception. Love, who ran the 100 meters in 10.76 seconds while winning Missouri's Class 5 state title, had eight catches for 77 yards and one score out of the backfield last fall.
In the Sun Bowl win over Oregon State, the touchdown came on a 13-yard pass.
The plan this spring is for Love to spend time at receiver and running back, laying the foundation for versatility in new coordinator Mike Denbrock's offense. Love usually studies running back film by himself and watches practice film with new receivers coach Mike Brown.
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Thanks to classmate Jordan Faison's lacrosse duties, more practice participants were able to participate this spring.
“Jeremiah can play receiver at an extremely high level,” running backs coach Deland McCullough said. “Jeremiah is really nervous: ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-va-va-va-va-ba-ba. That's the type of thing he is. Jeremiah is really, really elite at running routes on the perimeter and in space.”
After being depleted as a freshman and playing under 190 pounds in the Sun Bowl, Love put on enough muscle this offseason to get over 200 pounds. He is still considered primarily a running back and will likely share carries with Jadarian Price and Gibran Payne in the post-Audric Estime era.
However, Love has made no secret of his interest in expanding into slots and increasing his skill set. He made a point last season of staying after practice and working on over-the-shoulder catches.
“I play very well in space, so putting me in the slot or putting me at receiver and trying to get the ball into space suits my style of play,” Love said. “I like that they're doing that, but I'd also like to play running back as well. …The plan right now is just to give me the foundation as a receiver, so as the season approaches, if they want. They can throw a package at me and I'll know what I'm doing.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is active on social media @MikeBerardino.
