SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Once Alex Golesh accepted the head coaching job at South Florida last December, then-Bulls senior kicker Spencer Shrader pondered his next move.
The Indianapolis (Ind.) native could remain in Tampa and play one more college season, where he'd built friendships, started his own businesses — Shrader Athletics and Copper Fox Technologies — and invested in local real estate.
"I had played for four years and the guys and the team knew me, but I don't think that when you operate in your comfort zone, you always succeed to the extent that you can," Shrader told Inside ND Sports. "I really felt like I was at a point where I needed another challenge in my life. I needed to be uncomfortable."
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound kicker, who originally pursued professional soccer in Brazil and Canada after high school, entered the transfer portal and committed to Notre Dame in December. Shrader said he felt God called him to endeavor a new adventure and network at Notre Dame.
In March, then-special teams coach Brian Mason left for the Indianapolis Colts. During that period, Shrader was back and forth between campuses. He was still in the process of graduating from South Florida but spending time at the Irish athletic facilities training and meeting his new teammates even though he wasn't participating in spring football.
“It was a challenge in the sense that I wasn't able to really grow close to them during that time," Shrader said. "But it was also a time for me to prepare, for me to help my sister out growing the business, for me to learn how to travel back and forth and be mature in my travel and it presented new opportunities just like stepping onto the team did."
Beginning at his first summer workout in June, Shrader said he started making up for lost time and earning the respect of his peers by finishing first in sprints and conditioning tests.
Through preseason camp, Shrader said he's grown appreciative of new special teams coordinator Marty Biagi's coaching style and focus on the specialists' individual success — something he said is rare in special teams.
Biagi, a former punter and kicker at Marshall, has seen Shrader's ability firsthand and is excited about the this season's possibilities.
"More than anything just a mental toughness," Biagi said. "I know that word gets thrown around a lot. What's very exciting about Spencer also playing competitive international soccer and having a mindset where you have to perform on penalty kicks or clutch kicks, it's something that he's already used to doing.
"With his presence and playing already now in college football games, it's really just trying to fine-tune. We're working [on] a couple [of] different things on his technique. Really, we want a clean ball path.
"People always ask, 'Oh, what's a kicker's range?' To me, it doesn't matter what his range is if he's not consistent from that range. Knowing that we can consistently hit that really good ball and then knowing where our landmark is is what we're excited about. He's had a great camp."
Shrader, who is currently vying for starting kicker duties with sophomore Zac Yoakam, isn't a stranger to position battles. He won two in four seasons at South Florida and should do the same this year.
"The main thing that I've always thought during my entire career regardless of football or soccer, tennis or whatever, whatever it was, is I can compete against myself every day," Shrader said. "I'm very blessed to look at that realistically. I don't really get impacted by what other people are doing [and] what the other kickers are doing.
"My goal is to be just as much of a help and a leader to them as I can. I want them to succeed in whatever way. I don't even, honestly, look at them as competing against me. I'm just competing with myself every day."
Biagi, who said on Thursday that Shrader is leading to kick off as well, will have the ability to deploy Shrader's leg on field goal attempts up to 63 yards according to the 2021 Lou Groza Award semifinalist.
At South Florida, Shrader said he even made a 75-yard field goal attempt while practicing in hurricane winds. During Notre Dame's 11th camp practice, Shrader connected on makes of 53, 49, 46, 44, 42, 40, 36, 25 and yards.
Shrader's sister, Sophie, a women's soccer player at the University of Tampa, helps with Shrader Athletics, one of Spencer's businesses off the field.
At 16 years old, Spencer said he began holding private workouts for kids in his area. Spencer created PDF pamphlets and followed up with parents through email on their child’s progress. Over time, one to two clients grew to 12, and now the siblings train about 60-70 full-time clients.
"They're fully incorporated," Spencer said. "We do it in addition to playing sports, so we just stay busy and we're disciplined with our time, but it's a blast because it's one of those things you can do in addition to football, it's not something that's like, ‘Oh, it's either business or football ... it's both.’"
Notre Dame's network has lived up to its billing for Spencer. From getting a text from Tom Mendoza, whose name is on the Mendoza College of Business, to hearing different alumni return and speak with head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish, Spencer is soaking it all in.
"When I'm at football, I'm working 100% at football and doing the best I can," Spencer said. "When I'm off the field talking with my teammates, I'm trying to learn about them. I'm trying to network with them because they're going to be leaders on the football field or in the business field one day. Then off the field, the resources that we have here, they're unrivaled."
Spencer has already started using his resources by purchasing living space on State Road 23 — a project he's calling 'Clover Cottage.'
He's currently living on the property with plans to renovate it and turn it into an Airbnb following the season. Through his YouTube channel, Proceeding Boldly, Spencer said, he'll document the process and show the beginning and after pictures.
Although he'll only suit up for one season with the Irish, Spencer plans to bring his best to the field and establish connections to last him for the foreseeable future.
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