Coach | Notre Dame Got A Good One In 2025 OL Commit Will Black

When LJ Spinnato told Irish Sports Daily that every kid coming down from Canada to play in the States was unique and it remained to be seen how 2025 offensive lineman Will Black‍ would adjust, the Choate Rosemary Hall head coach’s face hinted at the fact that he expected Black to be just fine.

There certainly was an adjustment, but Black turned out to be more than fine in his first season at Choate, helping lead the Wild Boars to an undefeated season, Founder’s League and NEPSAC titles while earning NEPSAC Lineman of the Year honors in the process.

“I think the practice culture that we have and all the good players that we have was really good for him,” says Spinnato, who himself was named New Haven Football Officials Association Coach of the Year this season. 

“It helped him acclimate quickly to the speed of play, the level of play. All the work that he was doing on his own before he even got here with higher level Canadian players and university players in Canada and one-on-one workouts that he was doing got him ready for that. Then, seeing it every day in practice, whether he is giving the starting defensive a scout or the starting defense is giving him a scout or obviously in individual drills. 

“He was getting beat and he was having to face that and he was having to get better. Then quickly, he turned the tide. He got a little bit faster, a little bit tougher, smarter, and then at the end of the year, he was just having fun out there.”

On Thursday, the 6-foot-7, 290-pound Black announced his commitment to Notre Dame over offers from Michigan, Alabama, Penn State, Texas A&M and several others.

“This kid is one of the top kids in the country,” Spinnato says of Black. “He is really good. They're getting an upstanding character kid, a humble, hardworking, superior athlete and just a great teammate. The kid is just such a sweet, hardworking, humble kid even given his ability, who is much nastier on the field than I thought we were getting initially. 

“He's committed to being tough, to being physical and playing with an attitude and chip. That, on top of his physical gifts and his growth mindset, he's going to be a darn good one for ND, there's no doubt about it.”

Spinnato expects to see Black continue to improve as a player in his final season at Choate next season and throughout his collegiate career.

“I think his body composition will continue to get better and better as he's in a real training program,” he says. “That's going to make him more powerful, stronger with a stronger base and ability to anchor and move people. His punch delivery and things like that will get better as he continues to get more confident. 

“He's an excellent athlete and a kid who really tries to master his craft, but he's still so young, so everything. He's going to grow into his body, his body's going to mature and get stronger and more explosive and of course his technique and his explosiveness with how he plays the game is going to get a lot better quickly, especially with that level of pressure.”

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