2023 TE Mac Markway Talks Notre Dame Offer & More
It’s fair to say Mac Markway comes from a football family.
The 2023 Missouri tight end’s grandfather played college football at Missouri. His father played tight end at Iowa. His uncle played tight end at Ohio State. And his cousin, Kyle, plays the position for the Cleveland Browns after a successful career at South Carolina.
But Markway is quick to note the game doesn’t define his family.
“You'd think there'd be so much pressure and all that, but there's no pressure at all,” the 6-foot-4, 250-pounder says. “All you’ve got to do is just grind. If you want it, you want it. There are people in my family who are on different career paths and they're succeeding because they're grinding.
“It's not just football, it's all over the place. We're just a hardworking family.”
Markway has worked hard enough and produced enough for De Smet already to receive scholarship offers from some of the nation’s top programs, including Notre Dame, Missouri, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Oregon, Washington, USC and Stanford among several others.
Just days before landing the offer from the Irish last month, Markway texted his De Smet head coach Robert Steeples.
“I was like, 'Is Notre Dame interested in me?'” Markway recalls. “He got back to me and he said, 'Yeah, they're very interested, very interested.'
“And I was like, 'Oh, that's awesome.' Because they're one of my favorite schools ever since I was a kid.”
A couple days later, Steeples told Markway to give Notre Dame tight ends coach John McNulty a call.
“I was like, 'OK, OK. That's a pretty good sign. I just texted (Coach Steeples), so this might be something big.'” Markway remembers. “When I called him, he talking about me, talking about how much he liked me, how much I fit his style of coaching and all that. And he said, 'I'd like to offer you a scholarship.'
“I was like, 'Holy crap.' Like it just all added up. And I was like, 'OK.' That was a dream. That was awesome.”
Markway points to the school’s history as what sticks out,
“The tradition by far,” he says. “Their tradition and the way they use their tight ends.”
He was also impressed with McNulty’s background.
“Sounds like a great coach, coached in the NFL, so he's definitely got experience,” says Markway. “That's always a plus.”
Markway is friends with former De Smet and current Notre Dame receiver Jordan Johnson and Irish running back Kyren Williams, who is also from Missouri.
“They're giving me feedback on how they like it so much,” Markway says.
Markway has never been to South Bend, but wants to visit when he can.
“I want to see their coaching staff in person,” he says. “That's probably the main thing. Talk to them face to face, see how they really are. Obviously, they're probably going to be pretty dang good.”
Markway is planning to hit the road this summer and is eyeing stops at Missouri, Iowa, Alabama, Florida and LSU in addition to Notre Dame.
“I can't really decide on anything until I visit.”
