Ethan Johnson with the media during Notre Dame's bye week
“I have played some early, so that is always good,” freshman Ethan Johnson smiled when asked to assess his freshman year to this point during Wednesday of the bye week. “Everybody likes to play.”
Johnson has certainly played a number of snaps early on this season, as he is fourth among defensive linemen in playing time so far in 2008 with 76:00 minutes of playing time. The surprising part of his season is the fact that he has played some on the inside even though he is a natural defensive end and is relatively underweight for an interior player.
“I don’t care at all whether I play inside or outside as long as I am helping the team. That is what it is all about,” Johnson said of whether he has a preference to be a true rush end or a bigger, stronger true defensive tackle.
Diplomacy aside, he does admit that he does have an itch for a certain part of defense.
“I think every defensive linemen wants to rush the passer,” Johnson admitted. “I want to be as fast as I possibly can, and I have to get stronger. I will play wherever the coaches want me to and will train and condition this off-season any way they want me to.”
Johnson says that the coaches have not told him where he will play in the future, but it is hard to imagine Corwin Brown and Jappy Oliver deciding against using Johnson’s natural pass rushing skills at defensive end.
In any event, Johnson is very happy to be playing football again. Until this fall camp, he hadn’t played or practice football at full speed since the first game his senior season of high school.
“I was hurt right away last season and even though I was around the game, my not playing for a year probably didn’t help too much,” he said behind a head-shaking chuckle. It is obvious that being away from the game was not easy for him.
For all of the negative that came about from his missing his final high school season, he did pick up a new hobby.
“I was on the swimming team last year, so I have heard just about all of the Michael Phelps’ jokes that anybody could make up. It helped keep me in shape while I was rehabbing my injury, so it really was a big positive,” Johnson explained.
That stemmed the tide until he arrived on campus in the summer, but he has been fully immersed in the college football regiment, beginning with Coach Rueben Mendoza in the weight room.
“Yeah, we lifted and worked out really hard this summer. I always worked hard, but being around all of my teammates and seeing how hard they work, it was sort of an eye-opener. The physical aspect of college football took a little time to get used to,” he said.
The mental aspect of the game has been the best part of his freshman experience as a football player.
“I have learned so much from my coaches. There is so much technique to learn in order to get better on the field. The coaches have taught me so much and I feel like every week, I am a little more prepared to help the team,” he assessed.
His football experience has not been all work, no fun, however.
“We have guys who are good at keeping things fun when we need it. Pat Kuntz is one of the funniest people I have ever met,” Johnson laughed.
Johnson is happy to have his first break in a long season, and there is little surprise at what he plans to do first this weekend.
“I can’t wait to get back in the pool and loosen up my joints so you don’t hear so many ‘pops’ when I move my arms,” he said while moving his arms and creating a concerto of joint cracking.
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