INTEL | Notre Dame TE Coach John McNulty Proving Popular On Trail

John McNulty has made quite the splash on the recruiting trail since being officially hired as Notre Dame’s new tight ends coach back in March.

He’s been busy and the feedback from those he’s recruiting has been consistent with one word seeming to sum up his personality.

Genuine.

That’s how the mother of 2022 Georgia tight end Jack Nickel‍ described McNulty, actually it was two words, “very genuine.”

“I would have to agree,” Nickel’s father, Paul Nickel says of McNulty, who offered his son during a family Zoom call last week.

“As a first impression, I was very pleased. What I’m learning in this recruiting thing is not everybody tells the truth and my opinion of him is that he tells the truth.”

“He seems like he’s a really real guy,” says Benjamin Gosnell‍, a 2022 North Carolina tight end who was also offered by McNulty last week. “He doesn’t sugarcoat anything,. He tells you what he thinks. He tells you how it is. He’s really real.

“He doesn’t treat anybody different I don’t think. If he has to tell you something and that’s how it is, then he’s going to tell you.”

Gosnell actually appreciated the fact that McNulty didn’t just offer him during their first conversation.

“Some coaches go ahead and offer you,” Gosnell says. “He wants a relationship with you, which is really cool.”

McNulty certainly impressed Trent Lowman, Gosnell’s coach at East Surry High School.

“I thought he handled this process very experienced, very well, very professionally,” says Lowman, who grew up in the game, following in the footsteps of his father, who coached for 30 years.

“When you think of Notre Dame, Penn State and some of the other schools, there’s a professionalism that comes with it and a higher level of class. I think he fits that assumption people have of those programs and that persona. I was very impressed with him.”

Paul Nickel agrees that McNulty represents Notre Dame well while his son was also impressed.

“He was great,” Jack Nickel said. “I really liked him. He was one of my favorite coaches I’ve ever talked to. His whole mannerism. He’s been in the NFL for 15 years coaching, so he obviously knows a lot.

“He seems like a great, honest dude.”