At Lovett School, a college prep school with less than 700 students between grades 9-12, head coach Will Muschamp has to get creative in order to compete with dominant Atlanta-area programs.
Notre Dame cornerback commit K.J. Wallace is one of his favorite weapons.
“He’s a dynamic playmaker,” Muschamp said. “When he’s got the ball in his hands, he makes things happen.”
Aside from his primary position in the defensive backfield, Wallace was used at just about every skill position in the Lovett offense last fall.
After losing their starting quarterback to graduation, the Lovett coaching staff was stuck for a signal caller at the beginning of the 2017 season.
Muschamp looked to Wallace to generate offense.
“We just eliminate the thought process and thought, ‘let’s just hand it to (Wallace) on speed sweeps, let’s get him back there in a wildcat and let him be quarterback,’ Muschamp said. “We just tried to be as creative as we could without letting people know where the ball was going to go, to get him the ball because he does so many great things when he’s got it.”
Wallace also moved around on defense where he generated 63 tackles, a sack, and an interception during Lovett’s 7-5 season.
“Defensively, he was a safety, he was a corner, he played outside linebacker some,” Muschamp said. “He does a great job in the kickoff return game. I think he returned three for touchdowns. He can return punts, he can block punts. There’s just so many things that he can do. I see him being very tired on Friday nights, to be honest with you.”
Moving Wallace back-and-forth from the perimeter to the back end maximized his output.
“Our defensive coaches, the thought process was if we put (Wallace) at corner, he’s going to be on one side of the field the majority of the time and not involved in half or, or maybe three-quarters of the football game. At safety, he can be involved all over the field. And with his understanding of what we’re trying to get done, combined with his own basic football intelligence, it just made sense to let him run around back there and do what he does.”
Without a doubt, Muschamp sees a perfect fit for Wallace at Notre Dame.
“He’s a great kid,” Muschamp said. “He’s going to be great in the locker room, he’s going to be great in the classroom, he’s going to be great on the practice field and on the game field. He’s one of my favorites because he’s got a great work ethic and he plays at an incredibly high level. He’s fun to watch.
“I think Notre Dame is a great fit for him because he’s got that strong academic background and he wants to play on a high level.”
