Skowronek's Notre Dame transition seamless
He owns more career collegiate appearances than any of Notre Dame’s current wideouts.
It’s just that none of Ben Skowronek’s previous 43 times on a college football field came in the Fighting Irish’s fabled uniforms and golden-domed helmets.
Somehow, though, the graduate-transfer Skowronek is seamlessly transitioning into the offense of No. 10 Notre Dame, which hosts Duke Saturday (2:30 p.m.) in the season-opening and Atlantic Coast Conference starter for both teams.
“Ben’s been great,” said Irish quarterback Ian Book, who needs Skowronek & Co. to quickly emerge after Notre Dame lost its top three pass-catchers from 2019’s 11-2 squad. “Just another big-bodied receiver. He’s really rangy, he can make a lot of catches. Makes my job a lot easier.
“Honestly, his leadership has been great, that’s really what I’ve noticed. He’s in the ‘Gug’ (Guglielmino Athletics Complex) first and he’s leaving last. Just to see someone who’s a transfer [doing that] is huge, especially as a quarterback.
“He knows every spot on the field, he can play every spot. Just excited to get to show what he can do.”
Everyone, it seems, is noticing the commitment from Skowronek, a Fort Wayne, Ind., native who amassed more than 1,400 receiving yards and a pair of Academic All-Big Ten selections at Northwestern.
“First of all, he impressed us in terms of his work ethic,” Brian Kelly said. “He comes from a great (Northwestern) program and it doesn’t surprise us, just his character and how he transitioned here.
“Immediately was working as hard if not harder than anybody. Did some things in the summer that were as good if not better than what we had seen here in years relative to his work volume, built relationships with Ian Book and the other receivers.”
In fact, according to Kelly, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and among all-new teammates, Skowronek is engendering confidence from teammates with both actions and words.
“Here’s a guy with a personality who is outgoing, immediately looking to build relationships,” Kelly said. “He wasn’t a guy that talked a lot; he let his actions speak for themselves, which I thought was a great way for him to immediately build respect with his peers by his actions, not by his words.
“And then he slowly has kind of started to speak up a little bit, and I think that’s been appropriate because he’s earned his right to do so.”
In the 6-foot-3-inch, 224-pounder, Kelly also sees Skowronek’s roots.
“I think his evolution has been spot-on relative to how he has come into this program and his personality, you know he’s a kid from Fort Wayne, he’s a down-to-earth guy,” Kelly said, “and I use this term in a manner that evokes more of his work ethic, he’s blue collar.
“He’s the first one in and last one to leave, he’s watching film and he does all the little things that you want from a guy. If you’re going to take a grad-transfer, he fits the profile of all those things that a head coach would be looking for.”