SOUTH BEND — His story is one that makes you shake your head when you start telling it and wave your hand when you finish.
He won't score a single touchdown for the Notre Dame football team this fall. He's not going to carry the football. He won't throw the football. He won't be able to catch the football. He doesn’t make tackles against that defense. If he does his job perfectly, that is, to a standard standard, no one will ever hear his name.
Still, there may be no one more interesting on Notre Dame's 2024 football team than senior long snapper Lino Monteforte. seriously. Once you get to know him, you'll fall in love with him too.
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When you see Monteforte's shoulder pads and golden helmet, the first thing you think is, that's the guy. small. He resembles a middle schooler who takes a wrong turn from the locker room and wanders into his high school's national team practice. Monteforte is listed at 5-foot-7, 193 pounds, but he looks downright small next to interior linemen who are at least a foot tall and weigh over 100 pounds.
Across campus, Monteforte is sometimes mistaken for a cheerleader. Mostly fencers. soccer player? At Notre Dame? he? come.
“I think it's kind of a cool disguise,” Monteforte said. What he lacks in size he makes up for with offensive lineman-sized personality. “If you go out, you don't have to walk around like, 'Oh, I'm on the football team, blah blah blah,' because you don't look like you're on the football team. The football team.
“You don't look people in the eye right away and they know you're part of the football team. They talk about you first.”
It is this person who distinguishes Monteforte from other players. He wasn't a five-star prospect at his chosen school. He wasn't some crazy athletic guy who knew he could find a way to play the game. He was a little man with big dreams. He'll find a way to play.
Monteforte, a native of North Babylon, New York, perfected his long snap by practicing in his Long Island garden. with his grandmother. He currently coaches long snapping at Hammer Kicking Academy and hopes to eventually coach in high school.
During his first year at Kellenberg Memorial High School, Monteforte had one such experience while sitting in a Bible class. “Ahaha” That was the moment I heard teacher Peggy York explain that part of her job is to make her students “better Catholics.”
“If I can get one out of 40 people, my job is done,” Monteforte remembers Yoku saying that day. “The first day of my freshman year really takes me back in time a little bit. I listened to her testimony about the faith all year long and it inspired me.”
As a senior in Prep, Monteforte participated in Project Undertaking, a group of six Catholic high school students, six Jewish high school students, a rabbi and a priest, who walked through historic sites and learned about faith, religion, and I went to Israel to learn all about it. meaning.
Monteforte may be the only Division I college football player currently majoring in theology. It all goes back to Peggy York. Without her, Monteforte might have gone to his first choice, the University at Buffalo. But faith, and football, led him to Notre Dame. It's likely he'll teach theology one day.
“She definitely got me,” he said. “I'll let her girlfriend know about it every time I see her.”
Faith remains an important part of the Monteforte campus experience. Held every Thursday night at 10pm in Dillon Hall, “the best dorm on campus.” Go Big Red! ” Monteforte is a member of his band Milkshake Mas. He plays drums and has been playing drums since fourth grade. He was band president at Kellenberg. Again, not a typical path to major college football for someone who loves the game, lives, lives and loves the game, but isn't defined by the game alone.
“I really enjoy it,” Monteforte said of his musical side. “It's a good step away from football. That's the good thing about Notre Dame. When you're in a dorm with your friends, you're in a dorm with your friends.
“When I’m on the football field, (IAC), (GAG) and I’m in the stadium, my only focus is to improve myself to be the best Notre Dame football player and teammate I can be. It’s about maximizing your potential.”
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Continuing his path to a starting position in Notre Dame football
As a freshman in 2022, Monteforte didn't have to prove to many in his hometown that he belonged on the Notre Dame football team. All he needed to do for them to affirm was to tune into NBC on a Saturday afternoon. There, No. 51 was routinely panned down the sideline by cameras and replays showed him dodging rolling plays.
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“As a freshman, you’re kind of ball-watching, so you get a lot more TV time,” Monteforte said. “You really don't know what's going to happen.”
Things changed last fall when Monteforte moved up the depth chart. As a freshman, he was his No. 3 long snapper, so he may be more of a spectator than a student. Monteforte, who achieved cult status in that role last season as the No. 2 long snapper behind starter Michael “Milk” Vinson, knows he needs to take his study of the game more seriously. Ta.
Monteforte was so close to playing that his days of standing and watching and letting his family and friends watch him were over.
“People say, 'Reno, you don't see me on TV anymore,'” he says. “That's because I wanted to be in Milk's shoes. I was with Milk every game and I put myself in his shoes and said, 'Okay, let's get through this mentally.' .”
Monteforte wanted to be ready if needed. I'm not nervous. no doubt. Just the belief that I'm trying to do what Vinson and so many others before him did. Be the best long snapper they can be. There was a time last season when Monteforte was training with the third, second and first teams. He played in two games against Tennessee State and Pittsburgh. His snaps were clean and crisp.
When that moment arrived, Monteforte succeeded. Standards are standards, and anything less than that will not be accepted.
“You'll see some long snapper guys coming here,” Monteforte said, including former Irish long snapper players Scott Daley, J.J. Jansen, John Shannon and Vinson. named. “We've got some pretty important players here who have done it at a high level. How important is that and what is the pedigree of Long Snapper U. that we have here? It shows.”
In order to take the role seriously, Monteforte also had to work hard on his conditioning. That's why he's dropped 26 pounds since his freshman year. That's why he reduced his body fat to 10 percent. As a result, he typically shows up to the practice field an hour earlier than his teammates and practices with fellow long snappers Andrew Cross and Joseph Vinci.
Please take it down. Understand correctly. On his punt snap, the ball should be on Bryce McPherson's right hip. that. Send a good, tight spiral back as soon as possible. Field goal? Always deliver it to the holder with the laces removed. Don't rush back so quickly that it's hard to catch. Next, brace yourself for protection. Please repeat it. Be perfect every time. Let the routine be the routine.
There's a reason special teams coordinator Marty Biagi's first words about Monteforte are consistent.
“If you walk in the locker room, he's probably the first player on the entire team to be on the iPad and watch practice clips,” Biagi said. “He wants to know right then and there what he did.”
Suppose Notre Dame plays Texas A&M tomorrow instead of on Labor Day Saturday in its 2024 season opener. There's a good chance that Monteforte, a drummer and theology major and walk-on who is running for Dillon Hall, will be the starting long snapper. he. He is 5-7, 193 pounds.
Isn't that so… strange?
“I don't know if that's weird,” Monteforte said with his trademark quick smile. “Being here the last two years, I've been training and being encouraged by Michael Vinson, my coaches and my other teammates to prepare for moments like that.
“If I had to play tomorrow, I know I could go out there and play.”
The most interesting Irishman on the roster, he quietly gets the job done with confidence. There are no bright lights. No fanfare. he has this.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.
