Brian Jean-Mary Getting Acclimated To Notre Dame's Talented Linebacking Corps
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There was significant turnover on Notre Dame's defensive coaching staff this offseason. After January, the Irish were in need of replacing Al Washington, Mike Mickens and linebackers coach Max Bullough who returned to Michigan State, his alma mater, to be the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive coordinator Chris Ash worked swiftly to find replacements for the three outstanding assistants.
Linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary was the last of the trio to be hired and he will join new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge and new defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator Aaron Henry in South Bend for the 2026 season. Notre Dame's linebacking corps is expected to be one of the best units in the country this season; it didn't take long for Jean-Mary to get acclimated to his room.
"I had a little bit of an idea of what we were doing defensively and watched player wise some crossover tape," Jean-Mary explained. "I always admired from afar and now that I'm here, every new coach is going to try to dive into the film and try to learn as much as you can about the system. You have to build trust with the players and they have to get to know me the same way I have to get to know them. They've done a great job of opening themselves up and letting me pour into them. It's been great."
One of the leaders of Notre Dame's stout defense, and a captain in 2025, middle linebacker Drayk Bowen returns to South Bend for his fourth and final year. His presence in the room helped ease the transition going from Bullough to Jean-Mary.
"The best things that happens with any group is when you have an established leader in the room," Jean-Mary said. "Drayk's a guy that's been here for a long time and has been through so many different ups and downs here. It helps the whole process because you can lean on him because if anything is off, he's the guy that could get it back on the right track. Tt's always a blessing to have someone like Drayk, not just a leader in the room, but a team leader. That makes a big difference."
With the standard of play of the Notre Dame defense over the last several seasons, there's a lot of pressure on the veteran linebacker coach. Add in the top-level talent and experience in the room, Jean-Mary has a relatively full plate. But the opportunity to coach in South Bend was an opportunity the Florida native wasn't willing to pass up.
"It's one of the best jobs in the country," Jean-Mary stated. "It's a blessing to be in a situation where we know what the expectations are every week; we know what the expectations are at the end of the year. Some people look at that as pressure. There's only certain schools that have that type of pressure. So when the standard is to be the best, that's a challenge for us as coaches and that's what you want to be a part of. I've been at those other places where the challenge is to just have a good season. I know that's not the case here."
He's absolutely right. The expectations around Notre Dame this season are the highest I've seen in quite some time, and that's coming off of another season where the Irish rattled off 10-straight wins to end the regular season. Notre Dame is expected to be one of the best teams in the country this season and the linebacking unit will be anchoring a strong defensive unit.
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