Who will Notre Dame’s Starting Specialists be in 2022?

Heading into the summer, one of Notre Dame’s biggest concerns was the play of its specialists. 

Kicker Jonathan Doerer and punter Jay Bramblett excited the program in the offseason. The lone returning starter was long-snapper Michael “Milk” Vinson.

“We knew there were going be growing pains, especially in the spring,” said special teams coordinator Brian Mason.

Since the spring, there’s been an open competition to be the team’s starting field goal kicker, kickoff specialist, holder and punter.

With the season opener against Ohio State just two weeks away, Notre Dame appears confident in its specialists and Mason is close to naming all of the starters for his unit.

Grupe Ready for Field Goal Responsibilities

Combined, kickers Josh Bryan and Blake Grupe made one out of four field goal attempts in the Blue-Gold Game. The make was a 36-yarder by Grupe, who had transferred from Arkansas State and enrolled mid-year. 

But it appears Grupe has grown more and more consistent since. He now has the field goal kicker position locked down. 

At 5-foot-7 and 155 pounds, Grupe is nine inches shorter than Doerer, but the transfer from Arkansas State has consistently produced at the college level and kicks the ball farther than one might expect.

“His range is to 55, depending on situations,” Mason said. “He's hit from 53 multiple times in fall camp. That's going to be dependent on weather and different things like that. When you're talking 50+ across college football, it's not a high probability to begin with. We believe he's the most consistent guy at all ranges on our team right now.”

Last season, he hit on 20 of his 25 field goal attempts. He also connected on a 50-yarder against Tulsa, as well as a 42-yard game-winning field goal versus the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

The arrival of punter Jon Sot, who transferred from Harvard, has also helped Grupe. In addition to punter, he’s also an experienced holder. 

“It took him one day of being here in the summer,” Mason said, “and everybody's was like, 'we want that to be the holder. He's the best.' He's done it before. He's got years of experience doing it. We've got to train McFerson and somebody else over the next year to be ready to replace Sot. We'll get that ready to go.”

Ongoing Punter Competition

The punting in the Blue-Gold Game was subpar, with walk-ons Chris Salerno and Bryan Dowd averaging a combined 37 yards per boot.

But neither of the players currently competing for the job were on campus yet. 

Freshman Bryce McFerson was the No. 1 punter prospect in the class of 2023. He strikes the ball with power and is naturally gifted. According to Mason, it’s as if “God kissed him in ways that he didn’t kiss other people’s legs.” 

The hope was that the uber-talented freshman could step in immediately to replace the steady presence of Bramblett. 

Yet there are other nuances to being a punter that McFerson has yet to master.  

“He needs to be a little bit more consistent at times, which is going to happen with somebody that's young,” Mason said. “He needs a little bit more game experience, but he's ready to play week one, and we're excited for him.”

For the 2022 season, the more likely candidate is Sot, who the coaching staff said would be the starting punter if they played Ohio State today. He averaged 40.8 yards per punt during his career at Harvard. 

Kickoff Specialist

At Wednesday’s practice, freshman walk-on kicker Zac Yoakam handled kickoff duties. It appeared he might be in the running for kickoff specialist, but apparently, McFerson wrapped that job up long ago, almost as soon as he walked on campus this summer.

“It took about five minutes,” Mason said.

Mason has set the bar high for McFerson and expects him to achieve a touch-back rate of 80 percent this season. 

“I think that's realistic,” Mason said. “That will depend on conditions or whatnot. It would put us in the top five in the country.”

On the 20 percent of kickoffs that get returned, McFerson could also be an asset as a coverage safety net. He’s 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, and Mason says he’s a “great athlete.”

Additional Special Teams Notes

In 2021, Chris Tyree averaged 26.7 yards per kickoff return attempt, which should have ranked him in the top 20 nationally.

With his 4.3-speed in the 40-yard dash, he’s also capable of breaking a game open, as he did with his 97-yard touchdown return in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin.

As long as he’s healthy, he’ll be Notre Dame’s featured return specialist on kickoffs in 2022. The off returner, however, is still up for grabs and could change week to week.

“We have a number of different people that we can use there,” Mason said. “That's going to depend on the game and the depth. We don't have as much depth at certain offensive skill positions, as we all know. There's a number of different offensive skill guys we can use it as the off returner that can help out Chris Tyree.”

Fans could also see multiple punt returners this season.

“If we played today, the starting punt returner would probably be Brandon Joseph, with Matt Salerno right there with him,” Mason said. “They both have done a good job. We trust both of them to play in the game. They both would be ready to go in the game, if needed, depending on game situations.”

Joseph has only returned a few punts in his collegiate career, but he’s proven to be electric when given the opportunity.

Last season at Northwestern, Joseph returned four punts and averaged 28.5 yards per return.

Special teams are also an excellent way for freshmen to travel and see early playing time, especially at positions of depth. In Mason’s mind, two freshmen stand out above the rest and are near locks to start on coverage units.

“The two though that would start today if we played today is Junior Tuihalamaka and Jaden Mickey,” Mason said. “How did they stick out? We have a number of really talented freshmen, those two are more mature beyond their years than most other guys.

“They've handled taking on a lot of information, processing that information, making good game decisions, and just kind of being a step ahead from a maturity and leadership standpoint.”