Nic Weishar Developing Into A Complete Notre Dame Tight End

During Notre Dame’s opening practice Aug. 6 at Culver Military Academy, junior tight end Nic Weishar was an instant standout for different reasons.

Consistent throughout the day with his hands while becoming a favorite target of the quarterbacks, Weishar made two of the four most impressive stabs of the day on leaping, diving, fingertip grabs over the middle that gained about 15 yards apiece. Later, he split between and then out-ran two defenders on what turned into a 50-yard score in 7-on-7 work.

While his teammates on offense let loose with celebration around him, Weishar let loose in another way by hurling his breakfast several times off to the side.

“I’ve always kind of been the guy that tends to throw up every once in a while,” noted Weishar casually about a week later. “You can ask any of my high school coaches. It’s always been like that so it’s not really a big deal for me. Just let it out and get back out there.”

What also has become more apparent through the first week of practice is the Notre Dame quarterbacks are more confidently delivering the ball to Weishar and the tight end corps.

“I do kind of sense that,” Weishar said. “We worked a lot with them in the off-season to kind of build that confidence, and the simple routes that are staples of our offense that we didn’t get a lot of last year. We’re starting to get that again this year. We just have to keep that going and not give the quarterbacks a reason not to trust us.

“A lot of that just comes with confidence in us as tight ends. A lot of times, it looks like we’re covered — but they can still throw to us. We’re starting to build that trust with the quarterbacks. That’s kind of the first step in building up throwing to us in the games.”

Last year, the Irish tight ends caught only 20 passes for 237 yards and one touchdown (off a fake field-goal attempt to Durham Smythe in week 2 at Virginia) — all easily career lows in head coach Brian Kelly’s first six seasons. Furthermore, 13 of those grabs for 190 yards were by rising freshman star Alize Jones, who is academically ineligible this year, although he is still allowed to practice with the team.

Weishar caught only three passes for 19 yards, Smythe three more for 18 yards, while junior Tyler Luatua, used primarily as a blocker, didn’t catch any. The graduated Chase Hounshell, now replaced by another former defensive lineman in senior Jacob Matuska, caught one for six yards.

However, there were two elementary reasons why the 2015 tight ends were far less involved in the pass game.

One was a veteran wideout corps led by game-breaker and first-round pick Will Fuller. A young quarterback such as DeShone Kizer had an understandable “when in doubt, go to Will” perspective.

“It’s all about confidence and trust with the quarterbacks,” Weishar said. “Last year we had Will Fuller out there — you can just throw it to him whenever you’re in trouble. Now I feel like the tight ends, we do have a lot of confidence with the quarterbacks, and I think you can see that in practice, in 7-on-7s, we’re making a lot of plays and hopefully we can keep it up.”

Second, the graduation of Ben Koyack (who caught 30 passes in 2014) plus the shoulder and knee surgery performed on the now senior Smythe after the second game, made tight end the greenest position on the team. Weishar’s 286 snaps (about 22 per game) led the unit, while Jones had 239, Luatua 200, Hounshell 168 and Smythe 147. There was no steady, veteran presence to rely on at tight end for the quarterback.

This year, with four of the five wideouts no longer on the team and tight end more seasoned, there is a role reversal. Don’t expect any tight end to catch the 63 or 50 passes that Mackey Award winner and first-round pick Tyler Eifert did in 2011 and 2012, respectively, but collectively the corps, with good health, could double last year’s output.

Weishar, a four-star recruit and Parade All-American, is the standout receiver, having caught more passes (252) in Illinois high school history than anyone else. Smythe has perhaps the best combination of blocking/receiving skills, while the 255-pound Luatua and 270-pound Matuska provide more muscle as blockers.

A former basketball star in high school as well, Weishar’s third year in a college weight training program is now beginning to manifest itself with better strength and stamina.

“He’s made progress in the areas of body control, balance and volume,” Kelly said. “At this time last year we had lost him for two or three practices already — overheating, not being able to make the practice, inconsistency in terms of just being out on the field.

“Nic hasn’t missed a practice (this year), and we’ve had some pretty hot days out there and his volume’s been high. Just in that, his ability to be out there every single day and take the load of the position has been a big uptick for us.”

“I feel like the reps have increased a lot,” Weishar agreed. “Last year we kind of had the five-man rotation. I feel like I am able to focus more on being out there multiple plays rather than just doing one play and coming out. I’ve seen a big difference so far.

“The biggest thing for me is when you have a 6-tech (a defensive player lined straight up on the tight end) and you’re trying to inside drop-block a 300-pounder, when I first came here I wasn’t able to get much push. A lot of that is technique, but a lot of that is just strength as well. I feel I’m able to do that when I have my technique right and am able to push guys off now. It’s a great feeling.

“When I came in I was a receiver in high school. I didn’t really play much tight end, but now I do feel like I’m becoming more of a complete tight end to kind of flex out or be attached.”

It's now a matter of just letting it go and getting back out there — without too much mess.

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