Chris Finke Going Beyond Bit Role On Notre Dame’s Stage

A year ago at this time, then Notre Dame freshman walk-on wideout Chris Finke was visiting New York City' Broadway with his family to watch his sister, Alex, play Cosette in Les Miserables.

“We got to go backstage,” Finke recalled last month while preparing for the final stages of his sophomore season with the Fighting Irish. “I got chills watching her do it, living out her dream.”

Something in the water in the Finke household must be contagious. Finke followed up with his own amazing dreams in 2016 amidst what became a nightmare “Miserables” football season in its own way. Redshirted as a freshman in 2015, Finke began to make a breakthrough last spring at the slot (Z) while classmate C.J. Sanders was recovering from hip surgery.

By August, senior captain/linebacker James Onwualu predicted that Finke would be the top surprise on the team, and head coach Brian Kelly awarded the 5-9, 180-pound Finke a full scholarship, a moment that became “surreal” to him.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting it," Finke said. “Coming in, my goal was to get [a scholarship] by my junior year. It’s nice to do that a year earlier than I planned. I was so grateful that the coaches, staff and my teammates recognized me for it.”

“He’s Robby Toma with more speed,” Kelly said of Finke, comparing him to the 5-9, 185-pound 2009-12 wideout who snared 60 career passes for the Irish, 24 of them while starting seven times for the 12-1 team in 2012.

“He’s got dynamic speed and explosiveness,” Irish receivers coach Mike Denbrock said. “If you want to single cover Chris Finke then you’ve got issues. He’s a little slight, so he gets bumped around a little bit when they’re zoning and really grinding the vertical releases.

“He’s got work to do there, but there’s certainly areas where he can help our football team.”

It began on special teams Oct. 29, versus Miami. An electrifying punt returner at Archbishop Alter in Kettering, Ohio, Finke scored six times as a senior via that route, but he still was recruited only by lower division schools such as nearby Dayton because of his lack of size. Yet Kelly, who had already signed 2013-16 quarterback Malik Zaire and current sophomore cornerback Nick Coleman from Archbishop Alter, was able to persuade Finke to audition as a walk-on with the Irish.

The game against the Hurricanes was bittersweet for Finke because of seeing Sanders misplay a punt inside the Irish 5-yard line that resulted in a fumble and a direct Miami touchdown.

“C.J.’s a great guy and a great player, one of my best friends on the team,” Finke said. “It’s a lesson for both of us that when we’re back there — be decisive, and we’ll be fine.”

So when Finke was inserted in place of Sanders, he took a fourth-quarter punt 23 yards into Miami territory to set up the game-winning score in the 30-27 Irish victory.

While working behind Sanders and junior Corey Holmes (who also lined up at X), Finke took only 43 snaps on offense in Notre Dame’s first nine games. However, his snap totals elevated to 17 (Army), 21 (Virginia Tech) and 42 (USC) in the final three, highlighted by snaring 31- and 14-yard scores against Virginia Tech and USC, respectively, the former on a leaping finger-tip grab versus good coverage in the end zone, and the latter on a catch-and-run in which his elusiveness was showcased.

For the season, his 10 catches for 122 yards and two scores, might not jump off the page, but his progress bodes well for what should be a more seasoned and savvy receiving corps in 2017. The unit will include the tandem of Sanders and Finke at the Z — partly helping prompt the transfer of Holmes after this spring — standout Equanimeous St. Brown and fellow junior Miles Boykin at W, and maybe the fledgling freshman tandem of Chase Claypool and Javon McKinley at X, although none of the latter quartet necessarily is married to just one position.

Moreover, Finke has an opportunity to put himself among the top 10 walk-ons turned scholarship athletes at Notre Dame in the last 50 years, joining former team captains such as center Mike Oriard (1969), All-American cornerback Shane Walton (2002) and linebacker Joe Schmidt (2015), 1970 leading rusher Ed Gulyas, 1973 national champion and starting cornerback Tim Rudnick, and 1988-89 starters in flanker Pat Eilers and offensive lineman Mike Brennan, a duo that also would play in the NFL after helping the Irish to a record 23-game winning streak.

Like his sister on Broadway and childhood actor/fellow slot Sanders, Finke’s makeup does not include stage fright.

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