The Carter: Putz's Notre Dame path a dream come true
Link Jarrett’s never seen the football highlights.
Not the ones of the quarterback leading his Bishop Miege High School in suburban Kansas City to a trio of Kansas prep state titles.
Not those images responsible for the distant interest from fringe Power 5 football programs Houston, Tulsa and a smattering of others.
Link Jarrett’s never seen that part of Carter Putz’s athletics past because of all Jarrett’s seen of Putz’s present.
He’s a team captain, starting lineup stalwart and No. 12 Notre Dame’s hits leader (.366 average, 30 hits) as the Fighting Irish prepare to host Clemson (19-9, 2-6 ACC) this weekend at Frank Eck Stadium.
“I’ve never seen it. They talk about it, quarterbacking it,” Jarrett said. “He was obviously very good. I have not dug into that.
“Maybe I should. It’s an athletic family, he’s got a brother (Jude, a freshman infielder) at Arkansas and I think he’s got a younger one along the way that’s maybe committed somewhere (Rohan is a 2023 Kansas State baseball commitment). It’s in their blood, the athleticism and competitiveness.”
Those traits are foundational elements of Putz’s Notre Dame career, which includes playing multiple infield positions before settling into his role this season as the Irish’s anchor at first base.
A 2021 second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and All-South Bend Regional honoree for the defending ACC champion Irish (17-5, 5-4), Putz also is coming off arguably his finest weekend at Notre Dame after smashing seven hits and scoring six times in his team’s sweep at then-No 5 Florida State.
“I think it just speaks to the toughness of this team,” said Putz, who has a career .301 average at Notre Dame in 132 career games. “Obviously we went through a little bit of a skid recently, and the coaches did a great job in keeping us focused and putting us in position to win. I’m super proud of us fighting through each game to win, how we had each other’s back. It was a tough battle for us offensively, but we were able to just continue to grind out at-bats.
“I think it also speaks to how great John Michael Bertrand was and the rest of the pitching staff, the way they were able to compete, get outs and continued to give us a chance offensively.”
For Putz, his approach to baseball – specifically at Notre Dame – continues to be a chance to live out a childhood dream. Swinging a bat since beginning tee ball at age 3, Putz doesn’t know exactly how long he dreamed to play for the Fighting Irish – only that it was a powerful enough feeling to stymie any thoughts of a football career.
“Growing up to be completely honest with you, football was really my first love,” Putz said. “I really wanted to play football, but I kind of realized at younger age that baseball was going to be the best avenue for me. My extended family and parents are all from South Bend, we’ve coming to games since I was 3 years old. My ultimate goal always to attend the University of Notre Dame in whatever way possible.
“I had thought about playing football, but once I was committed here in baseball, I was fully committed because of the idea of the chance to represent this university and attend Notre Dame.”
Still, there was a brief thought of walking on to the Irish football team – at the urging of a pair of fellow former Bishop Miege standouts and one-time Notre Dame colleagues.
“I talked to the coaches, had a couple buddies here, Colin Grunhard and Jafar Armstrong, and I was high school teammates with both those guys,” Putz said. “They were trying to convince me to walk on here. But with how rigorous the academics are here, trying to play one D-1 sport like baseball and with the academics was enough.”
Now, curiosity and clubhouse chatter might be enough to get Putz’s old gridiron clips in front of Jarrett – with a potential assist from Notre Dame baseball sports information director Matt Paras.
“I’ve never looked into his football stuff,” Jarrett said. “But it’s probably worth diving into, Paras, if you can get your hands on that.”
Notre Dame On-Field Baseball Fitted Hat
