Notre Dame OL Tosh Baker Embracing the Journey
Notre Dame offensive lineman Tosh Baker enters his fifth season in South Bend with the biggest opportunity of his career.
The 6-foot-8, 321-pounder will compete with Aamil Wagner for the right tackle spot vacated by Blake Fisher, but Bake isn’t necessarily focused on the competition. Baker is focused on individual improvement and simply making himself a better offensive lineman.
“It’s all been about improving on what I need to improve on,” Baker stated. “That’s sharpening up technique stuff, improving fundamentals, working better with teammates and kind of gelling together with who is on the line. That’s what spring is for - kind of getting everything all together, especially with a new offensive coordinator and learning a new offense, which is great. I love the new offense. We’re just kind of growing as a team.”
As he embarks on yet another spring, it’d be easy to go through the motions, yet Baker is as excited as ever to put on the gold helmet.
”Everyone has a day where they’re tired,” explained Baker. “Getting through that is the best part. I can be complaining about getting up early for spring ball practice, but why? I get to play football every day. That’s so awesome. You can’t beat that.”
Embracing the finer details has allowed Baker to put himself in a position to start this season. The focus on every piece of his process has also allowed him to find comfort, whether it’s a technique or processing what he sees pre-snap.
Baker did make two starts in 2021, so there is a body of work and game experience to draw off of, but the Arizona native admits he has matured and that’s given him a new perspective on the game.
”I’ve gained a lot more maturity since then,” said Baker.”That was my redshirt freshman year. Now, I’m going into my fifth year, so I’ve gained a lot more maturity, I know a lot more ball than I did then and I can see defenses way better than I did back then. I feel more comfortable in my body, pass sets and run blocking. Everything just feels better.”
Yes, Baker has played since 2021, but he has only made two starts since then. One was against Ohio State last September as an extra tight end and the other was in the Sun Bowl.
Some players would have left for greener pastures, but not Baker, even though intrusive thoughts crept into his head at times.
”What kept me here is two things,” Baker said. “The guys in the o-line room and being able to learn from Joe and Blake. A lot of guys in my position would have left and hit the road. I love Notre Dame, the guys in the room and I love our coaching staff. I knew I was going to be able to grow to my full potential here, and that’s why I stayed. I learned so much from Joe and Blake.
“I was able to bounce ideas off ideas off each other. When I needed to improve on certain things, I’d go to them and I’d ask for tips and stuff. They’re here today and I was still able to bounce ideas off them today, which is so great they came back. They love this place. I love this place and that’s what makes Notre Dame special.”
If Baker goes on to win the job and have a productive season for the Irish, it can likely be traced back to the Sun Bowl start.
Baker has watched the Sun Bowl film countless times over the last three months. In fact, he’s picked it to pieces, as it’s set the foundation for his spring goals.
”I can’t even put a number to it,” laughed Baker. “I’ve watched that game so many times. I could probably tell you everything that is going to happen before it happens. I think that’s the beauty of it. Having that be the last game that I could go into a longer break of not putting the pads back on. I’ve been able to study it repeatedly until I couldn’t even look at it anymore.”
What did Baker see on the film? Room for improvement.
”A lot of footwork stuff,” explained Baker. “That’s kind of been my thing in the run. I want to shore up some of my footwork. I could talk for an hour about the things I need to improve on. The fundamentals and basics never change, which is the beauty of it. You can keep fine-tuning little things of body movement, body mechanics, footwork, hand placement, eye placement, eye progression, and all that stuff to shore up my ability as a tackle.”
Baker will now look to finish his Notre Dame career on a strong note, but regardless of how it ends, he’s learned a lot about himself over the last three years.
“I didn’t always love the journey,” said Baker. “Sometimes you want to be focused on the end result. As you grow up, you gotta love the process. That’s what it’s all about.”
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