SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Eric Goins once passed on using his final season of NCAA eligibility.
After four seasons at The Citadel as a kicker and punter, the first of which he redshirted, Goins felt a stronger pull to serve his country than to play one more season of college football and make a longshot run a professional football career.
That’s why Goins ended up at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, S.C., that doesn’t require military service, in the first place. He was inspired to serve by his older brother Ray, who attended Army West Point, became a field artillery officer and remains in the reserves on a path to being a Catholic Priest and military chaplain. The Goins brothers had grandfathers who served and cousins who enlisted as well.
“Just seeing their example,” Eric Goins said of his inspiration. “Just seeing if there’s something that’s worth protecting or doing your part to make it better for other people and you have the ability to do it, then you should do it. That was my thought process at the time when I first decided in high school that I wanted to be in the military as well.”
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Eight years after Goins left the sport, he’s back on a football field as a walk-on member of Notre Dame’s program. It’s a process that started in December 2022 when he received admission into the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
Goins spent seven years in the U.S. Army, the first four as an infantry officer and the next three as a signal corps officer. He was deployed to Poland and Slovakia to protect aid and equipment being provided to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. He was stationed in Germany when he requested leave from the Army. Goins received approval seven months later, but that was too quick of a turnaround to start preseason camp with Notre Dame last season. The Irish started in late July due to the early season opener in Dublin, Ireland.
The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Goins left Germany on Aug. 3 to be at Notre Dame for the start of his two-week MBA orientation on Aug. 8. Those dates have all been cemented in his brain, because they became important in working with compliance to make sure he would still be eligible to play in 2024 despite being enrolled last year. He spent the fall semester uncertain if he’d receive clearance. Then on Dec. 22, three days before his 30th birthday, an email landed in his inbox that confirmed his eligibility approval.
“Once I came back at the start of this semester, we had the team meeting for all the incoming freshman and transfer players and I was told to be there,” Goins said. “That’s when it became real to me. I just figured something could go wrong to where the NCAA might change their mind or something like that. Once we started the workouts that we’ve been doing the last three weeks, that’s when I really became a member of the team.”
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Goins spent about a month working on his kicking after arriving on campus last year to make sure he still had the skills he sharpened at The Citadel. That’s when he reached out to the football program to inquire how he could join the team as a walk-on. Special teams coordinator Marty Biagi met with Goins in November and invited him to join the team so long as the NCAA approved his eligibility.
At The Citadel, Goins worked his way into starting roles as a punter and kickoff specialist as a redshirt freshman in 2013. He took over place-kicking duties the following season. Goins made 64.2% of his field goals and 94.3% of his extra points as a redshirt sophomore. He improved to 76.2% on field goals with a long of 49 yards and 100% on PATs the next season. He finished his career with 150 points on 25 field goals on 35 attempts and 75 extra points on 77 attempts. Goins averaged 58.8 yards per kickoff on 138 attempts and 39.5 yards per punt on 49 attempts.
Notre Dame recruited South Carolina kicker Mitch Jeter out of the transfer portal to be its place-kicker in 2024 and punter Bryce McFerson returns from last season, but Goins can provide competition and depth at those positions.
“The biggest goal is just to be a good teammate and contribute however I can to the team, whether that’s in a backup or starting role, no matter the specialist position that I play,” Goins said.
Football played a role in Goins deciding to enroll in Notre Dame’s MBA program, but it came after the educational and religious fit for him.
“Raised Catholic, grew up Catholic,” Goins said. “A big part of my life is my faith. What better place to be than Notre Dame for that?”
Notre Dame’s specialists have welcomed Goins to the unit. They’re teaching him about the operations at Notre Dame while he’s sharing lessons from his experiences at The Citadel.
Goins has no shame about the 10-year age difference between him and some of them. He might be 30, but he wants people to know that’s not too old.
“I hope people if they have something that they think is worth pursuing that they keep at it,” Goins said. “There’s no reason you can’t do it. Sometimes things don’t work out, but you can still learn from it and then apply it to whatever you’re pursuing next.”
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