Bryce McFerson breaks down Notre Dame commitment
Indian Trail (N.C.) Metrolina Christian Academy punter Bryce McFerson was happily committed to Wake Forest. McFerson pledged to the Demon Deacons back in September 2020, and Dave Clawson’s program offered him the opportunity to stay in state and get a degree from a prestigious university.
But then Notre Dame came along.
In October, Notre Dame special teams coordinator Brian Polian started expressing interest in McFerson, and a few weeks later when the 6-1, 181-pounder received his scholarship offer from the Fighting Irish it was all over.
“I had pretty much already decided that I was going to switch my commitment,” McFerson said.
Notre Dame’s current scholarship punter is Jay Bramblett, and although he hasn’t publicly announced his intentions to transfer as of Nov. 23, it seems that this season is his last in a Fighting Irish uniform. He will graduate from Notre Dame after three seasons and was honored during Senior Day Nov. 19 against Georgia Tech.
If Bramblett does indeed transfer, it opens the door for McFerson to start as a true freshman. He could potentially handle other special teams duties.
“I’m going to compete for the kickoff job as well,” he said.
Polian must have had a pretty good idea before McFerson’s official visit Nov. 18-20 that he’d land the All-American punter, and it solidified during McFerson’s one-on-one conversation with Irish head coach Brian Kelly.
“It was amazing. He’s such a good guy,” McFerson said. “It was crazy that the head coach of such a huge, powerhouse program be such a personable guy and that humble.
“I was telling him that I had such an amazing time on my visit and loved it. He asked if I was going to commit, and I said, ‘I am.’”
The longtime Irish assistant coach was instrumental in McFerson’s recruitment.
“He sold me on it,” McFerson said of Polian. “He was very important in my decision. I think he’s a great guy and is very focused. He has a lot of determination to be excellent at what he does.
“It’s cool to have a guy like that on the sidelines who is working with you. He also knows a lot about the technique of punting and kicking, which is uncommon.”
Other highlights of McFerson’s all-expenses paid visit in November included all the coaches and staff members he and his family spoke with, dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House and a meeting with Dr. Amber Selking, Notre Dame’s mental performance coach.
“She showed me how important the mental side of things is,” McFerson explained. “That sold me a lot, too. Punting is different than other positions because at practice you’ll have 60 reps, but in the game you’ll have five or less.
“Learning how to change the practice to game mindset will be an important thing for me.”
McFerson took an unofficial visit to Notre Dame’s campus during the weekend of the Irish’s bye week in October. He fell in love with the university at that point.
“It’s Notre Dame,” he said. “It has the most storied program in all of college football. Wake Forest is a special place with the intimacy of it and the coaching staff is great, and then there are other big football schools that don’t have that type of culture. But Notre Dame has both. It has the same intimacy and culture, and it has high-level football.”
McFerson was one of the few people in attendance for Notre Dame’s 55-0 triumph over Georgia Tech who was cheering for the Irish and wanting to see their punt unit on the field.
“It was amazing,” McFerson said of the atmosphere inside Notre Dame Stadium. “It was a blowout, and people usually don’t stay to watch those after the first half, but the students stayed until the end of the game. The stadium was still packed when the game was over.”
During his senior season in which he helped lead Metrolina Christian Academy to a 10-2 season, he averaged 46.0 yards per punt with a long of 62 and pinned the opponent inside their 20 six times on 24 total punts.
As a kicker, McFerson kicked off 67 times and recorded 63 touchbacks. He was perfect on extra points (43 of 43) and 6 of 12 on field goals with a long of 47.
McFerson is Notre Dame’s 23rd commitment of the 2022 recruiting class. The Fighting Irish have now taken a scholarship specialist in the past four classes (2019 punter Jay Bramblett, 2020 long snapper Alex Peitsch, 2021 kicker Joshua Bryan and 2022 punter McFerson).
McFerson plans to major in business at Notre Dame.
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