SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Luke Talich’s Notre Dame football journey is still more about who he might turn into than his current snapshot as All-America safety Xavier Watts’ understudy.
But Saturday’s closed scrimmage in Notre Dame Stadium was the latest instance of how those two worlds emphatically continue to merge for the former walk-on from Cody, Wyo.
Working with the No. 2 defense, Talich made plays with his physicality in the run game and in coverage with early enrolled freshman Kennedy Urlacher as his safety sidekick.
“In Wyoming, you don't throw the ball a ton, so I was really just tracking the ball — see ball, get ball,” Talich said after a recent Irish spring football practice, the final one of which takes place this coming Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium in the form of the annual Blue-Gold Game (1 p.m. EDT; Peacock streaming).
“So, when I got here, it was definitely a culture shock,” he continued. “I had to adjust to all these different coverages, all these different schemes that we run, learning the defense. And I'm still working on that school learning it every day.
“So yeah, it's been good and yeah, definitely a big change from Wyoming to Notre Dame for sure.”
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound sophomore — awarded a scholarship in late December — blends rare length with sprinter’s closing speed (a best of 10.72 seconds in the 100-meter dash while winning state titles in the 100, 200 and long jump last spring) as well as toughness.
And ingenuity.
“It's hard to get recruited …because, I mean, why would you recruit Wyoming when you can go to Florida or anywhere of (these) other places?” Talich said. “I just kind of put myself out there. What I found is that a lot of people aren't going to come to Wyoming to recruit you. You've got to go to them.
“That's kind of what we did. My parents brought me out here for a camp my senior year, which was really the reason I'm here. And so, yeah, I just think, there's talent everywhere and you’ve just got to put yourself out there.”
Three Pac-12 offers — Utah, Oregon State and Washington State — came his way among the nine FBS/FCS reported scholarship offers he accrued. Notre Dame’s best pitch was to come as a preferred walk-on, with a chance to earn a scholarship.
He decided to bet on himself.
“I always loved Notre Dame when I was a little kid,” Talich said. “I just figured, when I got that preferred walk-on opportunity, I just didn't want to regret not taking it. So, I just decided to give it a shot, and it paid off. So, I'm happy I did it.”
And happy for another walk-on in the class, wide receiver Jordan Faison, who turned a partial scholarship in men’s lacrosse into a full football scholarship last season, then won the MVP award in ND’s 40-8 romp over Oregon State in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 29.
Faison is making an impact on the No. 1-ranked ND men’s lacrosse team this spring, scoring his 15th goal of the season in an 18-17 come-from-behind win over eighth-ranked Cornell on Sunday, in which he had an assist on the goal that tied the game at 17-all with 2:45 left.
“He's been one of my best buddies from the beginning,” Talich said of Faison. “He was one of the only faces I knew coming into the summer last year. So, he's been awesome. We hang out all the time. I think we're gonna live together next year. So yeah, he's been great for me. It's just awesome to have a kid like that with that kind of talent who's in a similar situation.”
Talich played primarily on special teams as a freshman, seeing action in a combined 66 plays on kickoff coverage and punt returns before a broken collarbone in November prematurely ended his season. All six of his game snaps at safety came in the Sept. 2 home opener against Tennessee State.
Notre Dame had a lot of attrition from the safety position in the offseason around Watts. DJ Brown exhausted his eligibility. Ramon Henderson and Antonio Carter II both hit the transfer portal, leaving sophomore Adon Shuler as Notre Dame’s next most-experienced safety with 52 game snaps spread over five games. Twenty-one of those came in the Sun Bowl.
So, Notre Dame went out and plucked Northwestern grad transfer Rod Heard II from the portal, with a June enrollment timetable once he completes his degree requirements.
In the meantime, Shuler and Talich have taken full advantage of their spring reps, and both have dramatically improved. To the point it’s more realistic that they’ll be part of a rotation rather than backups, and perhaps the favorites to start in 2025.
“What’s great is you have X [Watts] and B-Mo [cornerback Benjamin Morrison] around, who are All-Americans,” said special teams coordinator Marty Biagi, who’s helping to coach the safeties this spring and in the upcoming season.
“So, it’s not like we have to go pull clips to show, ‘Here’s how an NFL guy does it.’ Those two guys practice and prepare like pros. So now [Shuler and Talich] are constantly coming into the film room, constantly taking care of their bodies, and really attaching to the hip of those veteran players who have shown it.
“It’s not just a three-hour commitment. They want to be doing extra. They’re both having a great spring.”
And determined to have a great summer.
“I am a big-frame guy. I got a lot of length,” Talich said. “I'm kind of skinny right now, but I came in and I've already gained like 20 pounds. So just the strength staff — [director of football performance] Coach [Loren] Landow, he's been awesome. I'm excited.
“Right now, we're not really in a building phase. I just got off winter workouts, which I was still rehabbing a little bit. So, that was kind of interesting, trying to build muscle while also rehabbing. But this summer, I think it's going to be huge for me, just kind of building some lean muscle and gaining some weight.”
And continuing to turn into the player the Irish coaches fell in love with at one of their camps.
“Just continue to grow and understand it is year 2 for him now,” defensive backs coach Mike Mickens said of Talich. “So, just play fast. He's very athletic. I'm just excited to see him continue to grow.”
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