Irish TE Target Luke Deal Working Tirelessly Heading Into Senior Season
Notre Dame will host Greenwood (S.C.) Emerald three-star tight end Luke Deal will visit Notre Dame next month and the talented tight end will take a break from his rigorous offseason training to make the trip.
Deal, the No. 24 tight end in the class of 2019, said he’s been doing a number of different exercises every day to prepare for his senior season.
“I’m getting faster every day,” Deal said. “After we get done lifting I got out with a group of guys and get faster and get stronger.”
The South Carolina product said he’s been doing as much as he possibly can during the offseason, but is eager to get back in pads.
“I’m pushing sleds, doing box jumps and doing all kinds of crazy stuff,” Deal explained. “All that stuff is good right now but when we go start practicing, it gets real. That’s where you build your team up and get the values of nastiness and grit. That’s what makes teams great.”
Deal is a top target for Notre Dame, a program that emphasizes grit just as much as he does.
“I know Notre Dame has a reputation of being nasty guys and being old school,” Deal said. “That’s really cool to me and I feel like our team this year can do that.”
But until the pads come back on, the sleds and boxes will have to do. Deal said he’s putting all the time in because he knows how important strength and conditioning is now and at the next level.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Deal said. “To be good with at the elite level you’ve got to be fast, you’ve got to be big and you’ve got to be strong.”
So speed and strength are the main goals for Deal this offseason, but the three-star said his personal goals are taking a back seat to those of his team.
“At the end of the day I want to win a state championship first,” Deal said. “But other than that, I want to make my routes a little crisper and speed is huge for me.”
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