It was just a few weeks ago when the run of top 20 prospect at the tight end position giving their verbal took place. In a matter of 48 hours, those that follow recruiting saw Jeb Blazevich commit to Georgia, Ian Bunting choose Ann Arbor, Daniel Helm head to Knoxville, and Nic Weishar give his verbal to the Irish. Notre Dame had offers out to Bunting, Blazevich, Weishar, and had showed interest in Helm, but walked away with word from Weishar that South Bend will be his final destination.
Over the last 15 years, Notre Dames football program has slowly turned into Tight End University, as they have had Anthony Fasano, John Carlson, Kyle Rudolph, and Tyler Eifert all drafted into the NFL. In more recent years the Irish have followed a familiar path with their choices at the tight end position, going with a taller, athletic player with great hands, and Nic Weishar seemingly fits that exact mold. The product out of Marist High in Chicago, stands 6’5, 215lbs. and in his Junior year had 89 receptions, 1050 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Nic talked to us about his decision to come to Notre Dame and if their ability to turn out tight end prospects played a factor.
Yeah, it wasn’t a massive factor, but when you have aspirations to play in the NFL, which I do, you want to go to a program that understands how to develop the position that you play, and obviously Notre Dames coaching staff really understands how to do that.
Weishar joins an impressive group of 2014 commits that have the Irish sitting comfortably in the rivals and ESPN top 10 recruiting classes for next year. Notre Dame assistant coach Chuck Martin has played a large part in building that class, and played a large role in Weishar deciding Notre Dame is where he wants to go.
I built a relationship with coach Martin early, and am very thankful for him. I think he knows me best of all the coaches that I have been talking to.
Growing up so close to Notre Dame’s campus, and in an area that is rich in Irish tradition and fans, it would be an easy assumption that Nic was an Irish fan as a kid and that’s what attracted him to the program, but you would be wrong.
Growing up on the south side of Chicago, obviously there are a ton of Notre Dame fans around here, but to be honest, I wasn’t that that big of fan as a kid. I was able to visit campus 6 or 7 times since my freshman year, and when I got on campus, I just fell in love with it, and every time I went up there, I found something even more I liked about it.
As with most recruits, football is important, but we talked to Nic about what else made Notre Dame such a good fit for him.
The first and foremost thing I was looking for throughout this whole process was a great education, and I am looking for something in the business field, and obviously Notre Dame has one of the best business programs in the nation.
Having most of your friends and family around you is a huge factor with a lot of recruits when it comes time to make a decision, and Nic spoke about why Notre Dame just made sense in that department.
I am a big family guy, and I would love for them to be able to come see me play, both my family and friends actually. Obviously being this close, they will be able to come over and see me play, and even when I am playing on the road, all of Notre Dames games are on national television, so all the pieces just kind of fit together.
A lot of recruits these days find the pressure and constant attention to be a necessary evil, and one of the darker side effects of being a national recruit, but Nic has a different perspective.
I have a lot of support around me, so that helps. I think part of the problem is some of these guys let it get in their head. I was lucky to have my coaches, my parents, my brothers there to keep me level headed throughout the whole process. It gets pretty crazy, but I just look at it as me being blessed to have this opportunity and feel very grateful to have coaches and schools want to talk to me about being part of their program.
If Nic is an indication of the type of kid that the Irish are consistently pursuing, then it would seem that the tight end position will be in good shape for years to come South Bend. The talented tight end from Illinois is the only recruit at his position that has given his verbal to Notre Dame, but the Irish staff are still doing battle with Alabama and USC for the services of Tyler Luatua, 4* recruit out of La Mirada, California.
For as long as I can remember, it was a seldom spoken rule among most respectable programs, that the home team provided the sideline chain gang / down marker crew, and the clock operators, while the visiting team provided the refs.
Except of course with Michigan.
They had to have it all their way, all the time, with all non conference games. (Talk about being chicken)
Whether ND played Michigan at home or away, it was always had to be the Big Ten Refs that called the game at either site or they just wouldn’t play.
So it came with little surprise that the most home team bias, unfair, and controversial called games that I ever witnessed ND play, always came at the Big House with their home town, Ann Arbor Insurance salesmen/Big Ten wanna-be refs.
Brady Hoke would do well to remember that, and remember his program, is the same program, with every home team advantage possible, was the one that lost at home to I-AA Appalachian St. and then to this day, have never agree to play them again.
Now that’s real chicken shit stuff.
But that’s always been the Michigan way.
Facts are facts.
Hoke is paid to coach Michigan Football. He coached there before he went to Ball State and SDSU. He knows his constituency, his fan base, his alums, and his players. If he can increase the likelihood that Michigan
can beat Notre Dame by using these tactics, then that is his prerogative.
Hoke is sharp enough to know that beating ND in the last game of the modern ries it gives him a motivational and recruiting advantage. He just threw some red meat to the Wolverines. How much does it differ from Lou Holtiz, the master motivator, after having warned his players not to resort to violence on 10/15/88, concluded by saying that if the Can es
started a post game fight, “Just save Jimmy Johnson for me?”
In terms of casting stones, I, for one, am disqualified. Because for years I averred that Leahy’s 35-12 stomping of the Maize and Blue in Ann Arbor, in 1943, forced
Fritz Crisler to cancel the series-and it stayed so for 35 years.
Talk is talk. Amendment #1 is Amendment #1.\
Results are results.
And the better team will win on September 7th.
Discuss:
http://m.espn.go.com/ncf/story?storyId=9271478
RB,
Sadly, I think Brady Hoke will be remembered for only 2 things… calling ND chicken and the samich named afer him.
“The Brady Hoakie”
It’s an overstuffed loaf consisting of (but not
Limited to):
Glazed Ham, unglazed ham, prosciutto, salami, pastrami, roast beef, corn beef, chip beef, turkey breast, chicken breast, kabob,
Veal parmesan , hot dogs, corn dogs, chili dogs, boneless chicken wings,
Maple beacon, Canadian beacon, extra thick peppered beacon, jowl beacon,
fried Cracklings, headcheese, cream cheese, Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese,
provolone, mascarpone, whole head lettuce with 1000 island dressing,
Sour Kraut, tomatoes, pickles, green peppers, banana peppers,
Jalapenos, onions, garlic, cucumbers,chives, olives, nacho sauce, BBQ sauce,
sweet-n-sour sauce, duck sauce, A-1, grey poupon, vinegar & oil, more vinegar and oil, honey butter,
Crème Brule , Tums chewables, a dash of GAS-X,and low calorie mayo.
Toasted and served with a bucket-o fries and a diet coke!
Brady Hoke will be remembereed, inter alii, for winning a BCS game in the Sugar Bowl venue in his first year. Last year, his team rebounded well from the injuries to Robinson to play strongly against an SEC opponent in their bowl game.
While the future is never certain, it is likely that Hoke will be remembered as a highly successful Michigan coach. HIs start is promising, from the Michigan perspective.
He has assembled an extraordinary staff.
He has recruited very well. He has followed the formula of building a fine defense first, and getting his offense geared to go in his third year. This formula was not dissimilar to Brian Kelly’s.
What I remember about Brady’s Hoke’s first year was that he played his first 5 games of the year at home in the Big House. Who does that and gets away with it? Only Michigan.
(They popened with Western Michigan, ND, Easteren Michigan, San Diego St, & Minnesota)
And out of those 5 games, his only real competition was ND.
A game his team was out played in and was fortunate to win.
They didn’t play their first road game until Oct.8th and even that was agianst a weak Northwestern team.
While the coaching and recruiting formula may be similar, tilting the schedule in almost an obsene way is not.
You, better than anyone knows that’s not the ND way, and never will be.
If we had played a similar schedule, we would have been ridiculed from coast to coast.
well, the Catholic League has a revered place in Notre Dame archives. But I don’t think that a Johnny Lattner from Fenwick is going to walk through that door.
In 1963, Devore went nuts at Fenwick and brought in Jim Dilulo, Jim Marsico, Tim Wengierski and two others and they didn’t play. Demographics shift, and if your recruiting doesn not shift with them, then your goose is cooked.
Speed kills. The Catholic League no longer does.
Amen to that. Thanks to the Chicago Machine, Daley I and II, and now Rahbo Emmanuel there won’t be an ethnic Catholic neighborhood left to feed into what Catholic high schools are left. I can only imagine if we still had hung onto Englewood, St Sabinas and Leo HS. Demographics sure have changed here and for the worst. Maybe one day a working class Catholic from Brother Rice, Marist, or St Rita will have a chance…but I doubt it
As dad used to say, “As long as the kids are having good, clean fun…”
This is a good pick up for ND. Marist, in one of the last decent neighborhoods on the south side, is a great school. I hope ND starts finding some diamonds in the rough in the Chicago Catholic league again. Hopefully one day all the city workers in Beverly and Mt Greenwood can hang their hat on this guy and his future accomplishments.
This is a good pick up for ND. Marist, in one of the last decent neighborhoods on the south side, is a great school. I hope ND starts finding some diamonds in the rough in the Chicago Catholic league again. Hopefully one day all the city workers in Beverly and Mt Greenwood can hang their hat on this guy and his future accomplishments.