2026 TE Ian Premer A Top Target For Notre Dame OC/TE Coach Mike Denbrock

Notre Dame may have been a little late in getting to Great Bend, Kansas to see 2026 tight end Ian Premer‍, but for good reason. 

“They were a little occupied,” Great Bend High School head coach Erin Beck says, noting the Irish spent all of December and much of January engulfed in their run to the national championship.  

Irish offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Mike Denbrock did make it to Great Bend at the start of February and offered the 6-foot-6, 230-pounder. 

“I think anytime these guys can really make an effort to come see Ian is pretty special,” Beck says. “With us being so out here in the middle of nowhere, it feels like sometimes when these coaches make that effort and flying into the middle of Kansas and then come meet him, I know it means a lot to him.

“He's a legend,” Beck continued of Denbrock. “His reputation speaks for itself. The guy's coached a lot of great football players, obviously a lot of great tight ends. I was extremely impressed with him and I know Ian was as well with them playing in the national championship.”

Dozens of schools have made their way to see Premer, who also has offers from schools like Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Auburn, Florida, Duke, Tennessee, Texas A&M, USC, Oregon and Stanford among several others. 

“Obviously, when you turn the film on him, his physical stature is what initially gets people opening their eyes,” Beck says. “But then when you just watch his relentless motor and then his body control. You see it when you flip on the tape in basketball, the way he can maneuver around and in traffic, it's just something that I know all these scouts and everybody just loves the way that translates from the basketball floor to the football field. 

“His spatial awareness, you can't coach it. That's what they see. Obviously, having a 6-6, 230-pound frame that can jump out of a gym is another thing that makes him just a freak.”

Off the field, Premer may be even more impressive, according to his coach.

“I've never had a national kid and I don't want anybody to ever think that I'm saying this just because he's the only one we've ever had, but you could ask any teacher, any administrator, any community member, and they would say the same thing,” Beck says. “He is the best kid anybody's ever been around. He's top of his class academically. He's in our gifted program. He's going to go into Business/Finance. He could basically pick any career path he wanted to be in, and he'd be successful. He's just next level.

“He's got great parents. He is the way he is because of how he was raised. That's another whole aspect of it. He just cares about everybody. He's just the nicest kid, captain of our team. Someone's going to get an unbelievable one. We've been fortunate enough to have him.”

Notre Dame has his attention, but he still has plenty to process.

“I know Ian was excited about the possibility,” said Beck. “I know Ian's kind of trying to focus on basketball right now, but I know once basketball ends, he'll get his spring schedule straightened out. He may try to make a trip up there.

“I think he'd be crazy not to entertain the idea of a place like Notre Dame. I think he's going to probably narrow it here within the next few weeks just because if not, then April's going to continue to be just as hectic. I'd be shocked if Notre Dame wasn't on his shortlist of Top 6, 8, somewhere in there.”

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