Coach | 2022 Notre Dame DE Target Isaac Hamm Possesses Phenomenal Traits

When Isaac Hamm‍ showed up at Sun Prairie High School in Wisconsin as a freshman, he arrived as a running back.

Brian Kaminski and the Sun Prairie staff quickly realized he was getting too big to be a running back and shifted him to linebacker. By the time he was a sophomore, Hamm had outgrown that position and was moved down to defensive end.

Now, Hamm possesses the ability of a skill player in the body of a defensive lineman.

“It’s his athleticism, his size and his speed and agility, which are phenomenal,” Kaminski says of what makes Hamm stand out. “I think it’s very rare that you find a kid at 6-foot-5, 260 pounds who can move and get off the ball as good as he can. Growing up, he was always playing skill positions.”

The late transition also means Hamm’s ceiling is likely higher than his peers.

“I think he’s a kid who is a very good player right now, but he has so much more room to grow and learn the nuances of being a defensive lineman,” Kaminski says. “He’s so athletic and that’s what makes him a special player.”

Kaminski says Hamm can still learn different pass rushing moves.

“How to slow that down a little bit, use your hands a little bit more are things he can continue to do,” the coach says. “I thought at the end of last year, he become much better at those things.

“He’s very athletic. He was a force against any type of team that was going to pass and he’s gotten much, much better against the run. He’s just getting more and more comfortable.”

The coach says Hamm will play offensive line this fall and may get a chance to show off some of his athleticism as well.

“We might put him out a little bit at wide receiver down by the goal line like Gronk and be a big tight end down there who can go up and catch the ball,” says Kaminski.

“He can jump and he can run. I think what also makes him special is he can bend. Colleges love to see kids with good hips and how they bend in their stances and how they can get down and he can do that pretty well.”

Colleges have certainly noticed and earlier this month, he added Notre Dame to an offer sheet that already included schools like Wisconsin, Nebraska, Penn State, Iowa, Purdue, Minnesota and Indiana among others.

“I know it means a lot because we’ve talked about Notre Dame before,” Kaminski says. “The tradition Notre Dame has and the excellence they have year in and year out is something that is special and intriguing to him.”

But with a dead period in place since March and no set date for when it will be lifted because of COVID-19, Kaminski notes recruiting has been difficult.

“Let’s get through this COVID time, do a little research online, hopefully get through this COVID and hopefully we get some spring football, have some evaluations, get some visits set up and hopefully the world is back to somewhat normal at that time,” he says of his message to his players.

Kaminski says Hamm is a “good kid” who loves to compete.

“He really enjoys working out, you can see that by the weight he puts up in the weight room. He’s just constantly there. He’s constantly finding ways to challenge other people whether that’s basketball dunk contest whether that’s shooting, he and I play one-on-one every once in a while. He’s just a competitor.”