Alize Mack: Stage Is His To Continue Notre Dame's Tight End U. Trend
Two Notre Dame football streaks were kept alive during last week’s NFL Draft.
First, in eight seasons and 103 games as the Notre Dame head coach, Brian Kelly has never had anyone other than a future first-round selection start at left tackle: Zack Martin (2010-13), Ronnie Stanley (2014-15) and Mike McGlinchey (2016-17).
The torch has now been passed to junior Liam Eichenberg.
Second, all seven opening game starters at tight end for Notre Dame since 2004 have been drafted by the NFL, mostly in the first two rounds: Anthony Fasano (2004-05, 2nd round), John Carlson (2006-07, 2nd round), Kyle Rudolph (2008-10, 2nd round), Tyler Eifert (2011-12, 1st round), Troy Niklas (2013, 2nd round), Ben Koyack (2014, 7th round) and this year Durham Smythe (2015-17, fourth round).
Dating back to the 1970s with College and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Dave Casper, Notre Dame has been Tight End U. a lot longer than Left Tackle U.
The stage is now set for 6-5, 244-pound senior Alize Mack — an act that has been overdue to earn rave reviews at the position.
From the moment he arrived on Notre Dame’s campus in 2015 as a USA Today first-team All-American, Mack has been preordained as a future pro, an Eifert-like figure who can also split out as a wideout and stretch the field. At super-power Las Vegas Bishop Gorman as a senior, his 41 receptions averaged 22.6 yards and included 13 touchdowns.
As a freshman, Mack's game-breaking skills were showcased in back-to-back weeks with clutch fourth-quarter catches, first a 35-yard grab to set up the go-ahead touchdown against USC, and then a 45-yard catch-and-run the next week at Temple to help produce the winning TD in a 24-20 victory.
His 13 catches were among the five most by a Notre Dame freshman tight end since 1972 (first year of freshman eligibility), and it even prompted the staff to work him as a boundary receiver the following spring.
Alas, academic ineligibility sidelined Mack from game action in 2016, but the expectations did not waver. When eligibility was restored in 2017, Mack again made the John Mackey Award Watch List despite sitting out the previous season, while Kelly referred to him as a "matchup nightmare" for defenses.
Alas, in a run-oriented offense, Mack’s stat line featured only 19 catches on 39 targets— with a pedestrian 8.7 yards per grab — and four drops, ranking him near the bottom among the Irish regulars in pass-game efficiency, per Blueandgold.com analyst Bryan Driskell.
And alas, the off-field issues continued when he was suspended for the Citrus Bowl because of not meeting off-the-field standards (non-academic related this time). Thus, while Mack enjoyed a quality, consistent spring again, the coaching staff took a much more measured, tempered approach in forecasting his future.
“Haven’t seen him on many lists,” said Kelly, referring to academic or disciplinary “lists” as opposed to the Mackey Watch List this spring. “...The jury is still out there. He’s still got a ways to go.”
Second-year offensive coordinator Chip Long, who also happens to be Mack’s position coach, likewise proceeded with caution when discussing the senior.
“He hasn’t had a bad day yet, which is good,” said Long in the closing week of spring. “As long as he concentrates on daily devotion to his craft, all the things he wants will come his way. You don’t get another senior year. It’s time to decide what kind of player you want to be, and legacy and what is important to him.”
So while Mack’s pro potential is often discussed, he acknowledges for the first time he’s applying a professional touch in college.
“I approach my days a lot different,” Mack said. “The biggest thing this spring is walking into The Gug [Athletics Complex] an hour early.”
That meant or included showing up an hour earlier overall as opposed to waking up right before he’s scheduled to arrive.
“Now, I wake up an hour and a half or two hours early, eat and make sure I get myself going, every day — being the same guy every single day,” Mack said. “If I can be the same guy every single day, my teammates feed off of it and it allows me to play better.
“It’s work, man. Putting extra time in watching film, working on your game and having confidence. Focus on the play, not the environment. That has helped me … I knew coming into spring I had to make sure I was in shape. That was the biggest emphasis I had.”
Being in “shape” involved not merely the physical but the mental approach to remove other distractions, including social media and the like.
“I was focused on other things instead of myself,” reflected Mack after this year’s Blue-Gold Game on what has held him back from fulfilling his immense potential. “I got into the media, I got into the noise, I got into the hype, I was doing more talking than walking.”
Mack said he is taking far more ownership in demanding greater results from himself.
“Every time Brandon [Wimbush] throws the ball I have to catch it — instead of thinking, ‘Well, people drop balls, and it’s okay. It’s okay to make a mistake,’” Mack said.
“He knows, and I talk to him all the time, that I’m going to catch it — and I have to. If I don’t, then I’m hard on myself and the coaches don’t have to jump on me. He doesn’t have to. So it’s having a short memory, but also owning that and really trying to be a pro.”
The combination of sitting out a full season, a new coordinator and an offense that last year took better advantage of his improved blocking resulted in some of Mack's receiving woes. Now that he is in year 2 with Long and Wimbush, Mack feels like a veteran instead of a newcomer for the first time.
“This will be my first year of playing two years in a row,” he said. “This would be a huge improvement for myself. Just continue to work, though. Coming off the suspension and being gone for the year can make a huge difference because you’re not used to game situations and being out there. You don’t pick up a rhythm.
“But honestly, just focusing on myself. I focused on all the outer things instead of myself. Maturity has been a huge thing for me this spring and it’s allowed me to play well.”
The relationship with Long also has boosted his motivation.
“He’s been more than just a coach to me, he’s been a huge mentor,” Mack said. “It’s really just confidence and knowing what you’re doing out there on the field and just focus in on the moment.”
During Kelly’s first four seasons from 2010-13, Irish tight ends averaged about 55 catches. The numbers gradually fell the next three years (2014-16) to 31, 20 and 12.
Last year, led by Mack’s 19, the total went back up to 45. With Mack, fifth-year senior Nic Weishar (sidelined this spring while recovering from shoulder surgery) and top two 2017 Irish recruits Cole Kmet and Brock Wright, a resurgence is in the making.
“Tight end U. has been kind of down these last couple of years,” Mack said. “I definitely think that we’ll see huge improvement.”
It has to begin with Mack setting the stage and tone.
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