By John Brice
Special Contributor
In theory, it’s been a trio of “thud-only” practices with Notre Dame ushering in its 2023 spring camp the last week inside the Irish Athletics Center.
In reality, no one is shocked to see Davis ‘Woody’ Sherwood already sporting a slight knot and a minor abrasion above his right eyebrow.
The Fighting Irish’s walking amalgamation — linebacker-turned-punt-shield-turned-hybrid-fullback-tight-end — wears physicality like a shortstop dons a glove.
“That’s who he is,” says offensive coordinator Gerad Parker. “He’s probably wearing that horn because he’s already been hitting people. Right?
“Woody is one of my favs; he’s so matter of fact about his work and he’s such a tough-nosed kid who represents Notre Dame with who he is. It’s why he’s earned a scholarship here and become who he is. He’s fun to coach.”
‘Woody,’ nicknamed thusly by former Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, is playing at his dream school – emphasis on participating, with 25 games in two seasons and starts on special teams in each one – almost by happenstance.
COVID-19, an injury and an abrupt unraveling of a prep program are the foundation of a high school career promising enough to elicit more than 20 scholarship offers but unfulfilling enough to have Sherwood initially arriving in South Bend, Indiana, as a walk-on.
“I’ve had a long journey ever since I started high school,” says Sherwood, prep stops including Woodberry Forest (Va.), The Peddie School (N.J.) and Our Lady of Good Counsel (Md.). “I didn’t get to play my senior fall with COVID (cancelling the season) and then I was hurt junior year during camp season.
“The big schools recruiting me, they were all telling me, ‘OK, we want to see you play in the fall.’ Well, I never got to play in the fall and I’d had 21 offers. Some Group of Six, some FCS schools. But then I decided to come here, it was a dream school of mine.”
Actually, Sherwood remembers needing some coercing from his mother, Sandra, a Notre Dame pre-law alumna whose intervening two years ago leaves Sherwood standing here today.
“I watched Notre Dame all growing up,” says the 6-foot-3-inch, 240-pounder. “So, I just said I’m going to give it a shot, I know I can play with the best and let’s go prove it.
“I had never been up here until January 2021, it was my birthday actually. I honestly didn’t even want to come up here and visit, because I wanted to go out to Air Force since that was one of the schools I really liked. And my mom said, ‘You’re going here to visit. I know you’re going to love it.’ So that’s my first memory here, like 6-7-8 inches of snow on the ground, but the campus was beautiful and I did love it here. It was awesome and I just said I’m going to go for it.”
With his primary football background on the defensive side of the ball, Sherwood points to catching the eye of his current head coach – Marcus Freeman – as foundational in his Irish evolution to overcome those lost high school opportunities.
“I think from the start, I was under-recruited a little bit,” Sherwood explains. “Maybe I wasn’t a Notre Dame talent to begin with, but I was a Power 5 talent in terms of my athleticism and proved that in the summer. I got the attention of Coach Freeman as my position coach and then Coach (Brian) Polian who was the special teams coordinator at the time. I worked really hard through camp and at the end, he gave me a shot. I ended up earning my way onto the field as the shield (in punt), middle shield actually which is a very important role. And from there on, I started the first game at middle shield and played every game. I got onto other special team units and I earned trust from everyone.”
Those moments are, ultimately, the genesis of Sherwood’s transition to offense. Needing depth in the group a year ago and knowing his in-game performance had cultivated trust, coaches asked Sherwood to make the switch.
Now he’s helping others grow in the group.
“He thinks of stuff on the fly when we’re out there, Coach Parker might not even have to say something in the block-game and Woody will say ‘I just saw this and knew what to do,’” says sophomore tight end Holden Staes. “He’s just super-smart and he wants to be a doctor when he’s done playing and all that just transfers to the field. So, (he has) the brain and then he’s going to hit you. He’s a really good guy. I love him.”
Adds Parker, “He studies our playbook. I mean he studies it. He knows our playbook as well as anybody in our room. At this point, he can help line up formations with our guys, even at wideout. He has that kind of talent and ability. That’s a testament to him and his knowledge.
“Guys like that help shape your offense. I think he does that.”
Sherwood, Staes explains, likewise shapes the group with his on-field play.
“What I see out of Woody is that he’s just a dog,” says Staes, entering his second season with experience in 11 games. “Whatever you ask him to do, he’s going to do it. He came here as a linebacker, and now he’s playing tight end at ‘Tight End U.’
“He’s a beast.”
A week into spring camp, Sherwood sports the horn that backs up the description.