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Work Ethic Kyle McCarthy hopes hard work pays off with selection in NFL Draft
By Joe Scalzo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
Notre Dame safety Kyle McCarthy, left, celebrates a last-minute interception in front of teammate Brian Smith during a September game in South Bend, Ind.
When Danny McCarthy was a kid, spending his weekends playing football in the backyard or on his knees on the family room floor, he could count on his older brother Kyle to show no mercy.
“It was kind of a tough love situation,” he said, chuckling. “He’d pick on me and bully me around but if there was ever a situation when someone else was doing that, he was always the first to stick up for me.
“And ever since we were little, I always looked up to him. He excelled at whatever he did.”
Sometime during this weekend’s draft, Kyle McCarthy hopes to get a call from an NFL team and see his name scroll across the bottom of the TV and make the seemingly inevitable transition from All-Ohio quarterback to Notre Dame captain to NFL defensive back.
But things are never so simple.
“When he was a sophomore, he was a decent athlete,” said YSU assistant coach Ron Stoops, who was then Mooney’s defensive coordinator. “He was OK on defense. He gambled a little bit but he didn’t really jump out.”
Over the next two years, McCarthy spent countless hours in the weight room, getting up early and staying late to lift weights and work out at places such as Jump Stretch or the Competitive Edge.
“He improved by leaps and bounds,” said Stoops. “We had some other guys with good speed on the team and by his junior and senior year, he was just head and shoulders quicker and faster than the rest.
“He was extremely coachable, he had great ability and he played with his head, too. You put all those things together and you have the makings of a terrific football player.”
His senior year, 2004, McCarthy was a two-way standout, helping the Cardinals go 12-2 and capture the Division IV state championship with one of the most dominating individual performances in title game history. He threw for one TD, scored on a run and an interception return and made three touchdown-saving tackles in a 28-6 win over Versailles.
That season put McCarthy on the recruiting radar.
“I wasn’t highly recruited but I kept working and I always felt like I was good enough play at one of the big schools,” said Kyle. “Finally, after my senior season, I started to get some scholarship offers.”
McCarthy’s dream was to go to Notre Dame, where his grandfather, Jack Mayo, had been a standout baseball player before going on to play for the Phillies. Mayo, who still works at Mayo and Associates Realtors, was a huge influence on his grandson.
“Both in sports and as a person,” Kyle said. “I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for me. Just his work ethic and his determination and the way he carries himself, I tried to model myself after him.”
McCarthy signed with Notre Dame but didn’t see the field his freshman year, then spent the next two seasons playing on special teams and as a backup safety.
Then, in 2008, he blossomed into one of the team’s best players, compiling 110 tackles to become the first Irish defensive back to amass 100 tackles in a season. He did it again last fall, recording team-highs in tackles (101) and interceptions (six).
“When I got to Notre Dame, I was an undersized young guy and basically went at it the same way I did at Mooney,” he said. “I kept my head down and kept working and eventually saw the field and made the most of it.”
McCarthy, who earned his bachelor’s degree in finance last spring, can become the first Mooney player drafted since Vince Marrow in 1992.
“I believe he’s going to be an asset to somebody,” said Stoops. “I hope his NFL dream becomes a reality but he’s going to do great for himself no matter what he does.
“He’s a likable kid, he’s a great leader, a great teammate and he’s very, very humble. It’s easy to pull for people like that.”
Danny, who followed in his brother’s footsteps as a state championship-winning quarterback who earned a scholarship to Notre Dame as a safety, said his brother has been a great role model.
“I knew that once he got on the field and was able to blaze his own path, he was definitely going to excel,” he said. “Nothing seems surprising with him. He’s always doing great things and I’m really looking forward to watching him in the NFL.
“Whoever picks him is going to be really lucky. They’re getting a great player and a great person.”