1/9/2022 football Edit

Center Jarrett Patterson will return to Notre Dame for another season

Notre Dame center Jarrett Patterson (55) announced he would return for one more season with the Irish. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Tyler James • InsideNDSports

Publisher

@TJamesND

Covering Notre Dame football, recruiting and other Irish sports. Email: tjames@insidendsports.com

The presence of Jarrett Patterson in the middle of Notre Dame’s offensive line isn’t going anywhere.

The senior center announced Sunday on social media that he would return to Notre Dame for a fifth season in 2022.

The 6-foot-5, 307-pound Patterson started 34 games in the past three seasons. He missed the last four games of the 2020 season with a foot injury.

Patterson redshirted as a freshman in 2018 before moving from tackle to center on the Irish offensive line. That position switch paid off big time for Patterson and Notre Dame.

Patterson, a captain in 2021, should be surrounded in 2022 by many familiar faces. Right guard Cain Madden is the only starter who won’t be returning from last season.

Left tackle Joe Alt and left guard Andrew Kristofic finished the season by starting the last seven games together. Josh Lugg, who started 12 games at right tackle before suffering a knee injury ahead of the Fiesta Bowl, announced Monday that he would be returning for a sixth season.

Freshman Blake Fisher took Lugg’s place against Oklahoma State after being sidelined since the season opener, which he started at left tackle, with a knee injury of his own. Lugg will likely be a candidate to move inside to right guard.

The newest variable to the equation will be offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, who has been selected to return to Notre Dame to replace Jeff Quinn.

Patterson was the first new commitment Quinn landed after Hiestand left Notre Dame to coach for the NFL's Chicago Bears in 2018. Now Patterson will have a chance to play for the man who coached nine NFL Draft picks during his first stint with the Irish (2012-17): Zack Martin, Chris Watt, Ronnie Stanley, Nick Martin, Quenton Nelson, Mike McGlinchey, Liam Eichenberg, Aaron Banks and Robert Hainsey.

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