Notre Dame names four captains for Sun Bowl
With season-long captains Sam Hartman, Joe Alt and Cam Hart opting out of the Sun Bowl, Notre Dame named three additional captains for its final game of the season. Graduate defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, graduate safety DJ Brown and graduate long snapper Michael Vinson will lead the Irish, alongside graduate linebacker and season-long captain JD Bertrand, on Dec. 29 in El Paso, Texas.
Jean-Baptiste, Brown and Vinson are all out of eligibility after the 2023 season. Bertrand has one more year remaining, but after accepting invitations to the East-West Shrine Bowl and the Senior Bowl, the two-time captain is expected to declare for the NFL Draft.
Hartman was the first transfer addition in his first year with the team to be named a captain at Notre Dame, which means Jean-Baptiste is the second. After coming to South Bend from Columbus, Ohio — where he played four seasons at Ohio State — Jean-Baptiste started 11 games for the Irish at the strong-side defensive end position.
The Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic graduate was everything Notre Dame could have hoped for in his one year with the Irish. He finished the season second on the team to graduate defensive tackle Howard Cross III in quarterback pressures and first on the team with four sacks.
Jean-Baptiste also totaled 47 tackles, just ahead of Brown at 45. Brown, in his sixth year at Notre Dame, also added 3 passes defended and an interception. He picked off a pass in the Irish’s win over North Carolina State on Sept. 9.
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Brown played 576 snaps this season, seventh-most on the Notre Dame defense despite missing Week 3 against Central Michigan with a minor hamstring injury. He finished the season with a 77.9 Pro Football Focus coverage grade, allowing only 9 receptions for 78 yards on 25 targets.
Defensive coordinator Al Golden trusted Brown to be at the right place at the right time for the past two seasons, which is why he saw the field as much as he did. More often than not, he was, and he had his best season in a Notre Dame uniform in 2023.
Vinson played in every game for the Irish in each of the past four seasons, manning the long snapper position since 2020. He never botched a snap. A Winnetka (Ill.) New Trier graduate, Vinson was a Patrick Mannelly Award (best long snapper) semifinalist in each of the past two seasons and was named a first-team All-American in 2022 by the American Football Coaches Association.
Many considered Vinson a strong candidate to be named a captain before the season, but he earned the honor for the Sun Bowl.
