SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Kevin Bauman could have decided to end his Notre Dame football career last August when he suffered a tear in the ACL of his left knee for the second time in less than a year.
The injury sidelined Bauman for a significant amount of time for a third consecutive season. His bad injury luck started in 2021 when a fractured fibula knocked him out of the season opener at Florida State and kept him out for two months.
Bauman’s first ACL injury came in a September 2022 practice as the team prepared to play North Carolina in the fourth game of the season. His second ACL injury came in preseason camp ahead of the 2023 season.
“It's been a roller coaster,” Bauman said Thursday. “I miss being out there. It's crazy.”
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Given his past, Bauman can’t take for granted that he’s inching closer to returning to full action for the Irish. The graduate senior was a partial participant in Notre Dame’s first preseason camp practices last week. He’s officially in Notre Dame’s “return to play” protocol and is expected to be ready for the Aug. 31 season opener at Texas A&M.
That’s the light Bauman is working toward after emerging through some bleak periods in the rehab process.
“The dark days are not easy,” Bauman said. “I've actively made the decision to return to play multiple times when I really thought my football career would be over. I'm able to get through the dark days because of the people in my life, because of my relationship with God, things like that.”
Although Bauman tore the same ACL both times, the process to return has been different. When Bauman’s knee was reconstructed in 2022, part of his patellar tendon was used to replace the damaged portion of the ligament. Last year, the operating team used part of Bauman’s quadriceps tendon for the second repair.
Those differences produced different kinds of pain and focus in rehab.
“Going into it, I thought, 'Been through this before. It should be a little easier.' Not the case at all,” Bauman said. “Having gone through it did help. I knew what to expect and the steps to take. This time around we were a lot more thorough.
“Big thanks to the training staff here, [director of football performance] coach [Loren] Landow and his staff. We've been really thorough and not skipping any steps and making sure we leave no stone unturned when we go through it the second time."
The last time Bauman played in a game — a 24-17 victory over Cal on Sept. 17, 2022 — Notre Dame’s tight end room looked a little bit different than it does now. Michael Mayer was a junior leading the group and on his way to setting all of Notre Dame’s major tight end records. Mitchell Evans was a sophomore working his way back from an offseason foot injury with just two career catches to his name. Sophomore Davis Sherwood was a newly minted scholarship player. And freshmen Holden Staes and Eli Raridon were looking to establish themselves in the program.
Now Mayer is in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders. Staes is at Tennessee after a transfer portal departure. Evans is returning from an ACL injury of his own after leading Notre Dame in receptions last year. Raridon, sophomore Cooper Flanagan and freshman Jack Larsen are all challenging for playing time and Sherwood’s finding a role beyond special teams.
But the expectations for Notre Dame’s tight ends, who annually make a case to claim the title of Tight End U, haven’t changed at all.
"Nothing short of the best tight end group in the country,” Bauman said. “You can go around and ask anybody that, and they'll say the exact same thing. Our mission is to stay healthy. We have a great plan to do that. Nothing short of the best tight end room in the country. We all know that, the team knows that. The whole country will know that."
The success of Mayer and Evans in Bauman’s absence doesn’t necessarily fuel him. He’s self-motivated as a once-promising tight end looking to make an impact.
"I have full confidence in my ability, my training, my work ethic and all these things, the athlete and player I am,” said Bauman, who Rivals ranked as the No. 5 tight end in the 2020 recruiting class following his Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic career. “Really, I just want to stay healthy. I have confidence in myself to go out there and perform alongside some great tight ends in a great offense on a great team.”
The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Bauman still has a role as a leader even if four of his fellow tight ends have played at least 12 games — Bauman’s total through four seasons.
“I think of myself as a leader of the group, but we all collectively are great leaders,” Bauman said. “It takes all of us in this group. I get it, it's an interesting dynamic, but we have a great group here, so we make it work.”
Bauman’s first career catch at Notre Dame came against South Florida in the second game of the 2020 season. His most recent came against Marshall in the second game of the 2022 season. Even if he doesn’t record another catch, his journey to get back on the playing field should inspire others.
Rather than retire, Bauman made the decision to keep fighting. And after Bauman expressed as much in a conversation with head coach Marcus Freeman last August, Notre Dame’s given him every opportunity to finish on his terms.
“At the end of the day, there is a lot more that I want to accomplish here,” Bauman said. “What it came down to was when I’m done here, I want to have no regrets. However my time here comes to an end, however my time playing football comes to an end, I want to be able to say for the rest of my life that I gave it everything I could.
“I love this university. I love these guys. It’s a blessing to be back. I just want to make sure I have no regrets."
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