Nic Weishar Reflects Quality Notre Dame Tight End Depth
One of the themes from the opening practice last Friday at Culver Academies was that in Brian Kelly’s nine seasons at Notre Dame, this might be his strongest roster from 1 through the 85th scholarship player.
There might have been more star power from 1 through 25 in 2011 and 2012, and better depth from 1 through 45 in 2015. However, the overall quality in competition at multiple units this season might be the deepest, although that doesn’t necessarily mean it could be the best team.
“I’d say 65 to 85 is where the key break is,” Kelly said. “… Watching guys like the young receivers making plays and a couple of the corners, I think our depth is in that 65 to 85 range, which is going to show itself a lot on the special teams probably.”
Perhaps no position group better reflects this quality in numbers than tight end, whose potential fourth option might be fifth-year senior Nic Weishar.
In 2014, Weishar arrived as the all-time receiving leader in the state of Illinois with 252 catches that amassed 3,238 yards and earned him first-team All-America selection from both Parade and MaxPreps.
As a sophomore in 2015 he led the tight end corps in snaps taken during the season (286), and last year his two touchdown receptions were the most among the tight ends (and tied for most on the current team with two wideouts, senior Miles Boykin and junior Chase Claypool).
Weishar was one of the 11 players on the first row leading the team through warmups at Culver, yet is in the shadows amongst his own position group when it comes to individual talent.
Senior Alize Mack is on the John Mackey Award Watch List — you can’t spell Mackey without Mack — for the third season in a row and was deemed one of the top two tight end prospects in his 2015 recruiting class.
Sophomores Brock Wright and Cole Kmet were the top-two ranked recruits in Notre Dame’s 2017 haul — Wright at No. 44 and Kmet at No. 95. Wright ostensibly is the strongest player in the position group and has primarily been used in a blocking role, while Kmet could possess the best overall ball skills, and also excelled as a pitcher on the baseball team, recording eight of the 12 saves this spring.
Freshmen George Takacs and Tommy Tremble round out the contingent, but the staff eagerly wanted and invited Weishar back for a fifth season in 2018.
“The offensive line has two great leaders (fellow fifth-year seniors Sam Mustipher and Alex Bars), but the receivers and running backs don’t have that one guy to look to, and I hope to be that,” Weishar said. “… Hopefully we’ll have three and four [tight ends] out there at points … we believe we can make the plays when called upon.”
Second-year offensive coordinator Chip Long also happens to be the tight ends coach, and his system places a premium on tight end utilization. In the three years prior to Long’s arrival, the tight end catch total was on a downward trajectory, reaching its nadir with 12 in 2016.
Last year the tight ends combined for 45 catches for 476 yards and four scores, and could easily rise this season with the combination of experience, knowledge and skill at the position.
Like fifth-year senior Durham Smythe last year, who grabbed 15 passes and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins, Weishar sees his role as that of an elder statesman who can provide versatility to the position.
“Kind of fill the role of Durham as a blocker,” Weishar said. “My career, I’ve kind of been all over the place, motioning and things like that. I’ve had probably the least amount of work of lining up over a lineman and just being able to drive him out. That was something I’ve really been working on.
“Coach Long has me everywhere, wide, in-line, whereas lot of the others are more specific, outside or inside.”
Two of Weishar’s classmates with previous starts — defensive end Jay Hayes and cornerback Nick Watkins — opted during and after spring to use their graduate transfer seasons elsewhere in 2018, Hayes at Georgia and Watkins at Houston. It gives them a better chance to start and showcase their talents for the next level.
Weishar likewise could have opted for another school where he could have caught 40 or 50 passes, but his heart wouldn’t permit it.
“On the football side of things I’ve been here for four years and been able to contribute, whether as a starter or in other capacities,” said Weishar of why he returned. “ … My plan is to keep working and be the starter against Michigan. [The coaches] see me as a real asset to this team and it was something I couldn’t pass up.
“And secondly, I love these guys, the Notre Dame brand and just everything about Notre Dame. I didn’t want to leave that.”
That's about as in-depth as it comes.
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