Drayk Bowen says Notre Dame cannot afford a slow start when the Irish open the 2026 campaign, and he has already put one matchup at the center of the defense’s early work: Colton Joseph. The two-time Notre Dame captain said the message around the program has been simple, to start fast in practice and carry that pace into the week ahead.
That matters now because Bowen is not speaking as a bystander. The senior linebacker returned to the field earlier than expected this spring after offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum and a hip procedure, and he has spent part of his recovery learning the defense from a different angle while missing much of spring ball. Bowen said his movement in space has been a lot better since the hip surgery, and that he has been able to unlock things he could not do last year.
Bowen has started at Mike linebacker the last two seasons, so the question for Notre Dame is not whether he knows the defense. It is how much of the old version of Bowen the Irish will get once the season begins. He said watching from the sideline gave him a better understanding of how everything works together, a useful gain for a captain who will be expected to set the tone even while his body is still coming back to full strength.
The immediate test is Joseph, who was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 after totaling 2,624 passing yards, 1,007 rushing yards and 34 total touchdowns at Old Dominion. Bowen did not frame him as a one-dimensional quarterback. He called him dangerous with the ball in his hands and said Notre Dame has to make the play when Joseph gets it, because once he starts running, the offense can force the defense into chasing rather than controlling.
That is the part Notre Dame has already seen before. A year ago, Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green made a few big plays against the Irish before they locked in and stopped him from dictating the game. Bowen wants the same outcome against Joseph, but he also admitted the quarterback is built to keep moving. The defense cannot just wish that away; it has to be ready for it, stay disciplined and finish plays when they arrive.
For Notre Dame, the opening stretch of the 2026 campaign is less about ceremony than control. Bowen’s recovery appears to be moving in the right direction, but the real test is whether he can translate that cleaner movement and broader understanding into the kind of physical, fast start the Irish keep demanding. If he does, Notre Dame’s defense will have a better chance of turning Joseph into another quarterback it can contain rather than one it spends the whole game chasing.
