SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Exiled in Washington on academic suspension, KeiVarae Russell offered a window into his training regimen on Instagram.
Box jumps, squats, bench presses, running on the beach — all those, plus plenty more exercise, were staples of Russell’s fall, winter and spring, as the photos and videos he posted to the social media site showed. The plan was always for the 26-game starter and senior cornerback to return to Notre Dame, but while he was away, Russell put in the kind of work that kept him at his physical peak.
“In terms of his athleticism and those types of things, those have pretty much remained intact at a pretty high level, which is good,” strength coach Paul Longo said. “It’s really hard to do that outside of training with a team. It’s really hard when you go to these individual specialty shops.”
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Longo and coach Brian Kelly both said in August Russell had to work off some of the rust that built up during Russell’s suspension, which sidelined him from practice for nearly a full year. He hasn’t played in a game since Dec. 28, 2013, when he boasted after a big game against Rutgers he thought he could be the best cornerback in college football.
And that confidence certainly hasn’t wavered. During media day earlier this month, Russell talked about how he’d do if given another shot against former Michigan reliever Jeremy Gallon, who burned him for 184 yards on eight catches with three touchdowns in 2013.
“If you go back to that Michigan game, I’d kill Jeremy Gallon right now because I play with better technique,” Russell said. “That whole game I just played with bad technique. If you look stats-wise, Jeremy Gallon’s not faster, not stronger, none of it. I played with terrible technique that game.
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“… I think that’s what it is for going into this year. I don’t care who you are, tall, big fast, anything — I know when I play with good technique, I can run with you, I can jump with you, I’m just as strong as anybody. So a lot of it, techniques do change depending on if you’re big or fast or small or tall. It does change but as long as you play with a good technique for that kind of guy, I feel like I can dominate anybody.”
Had Russell suffered a season-ending injury, he could’ve stayed on campus and continued to train with Longo and the Irish strength and conditioning staff. But given his suspension, he had to work out on his own to maintain the level of athleticism that gives him the confidence to dominate opposing receivers.
Longo, though, wasn’t surprised Russell returned to campus in just as good of shape as he was when he left last year.
“His motivation is unquestionably one of his best attributes,” Longo said. “You gotta send him home at night. The big worry you have in training KeiVarae is he’ll overwork himself. So you gotta kick him out and teach him about recovery. He’s a pure hunting dog, he’ll run himself right to death.”