Notre Dame kicker Blake Grupe putting his best foot forward once again
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — In rediscovering the mojo that prompted Notre Dame to pluck Arkansas State kicker Blake Grupe out of the transfer portal in the first place in January, the sixth-year grad senior kicker turned to his Apple Watch daily.
“I’ve been tracking my heart rate during the (practice) periods,” Grupe said Friday following practice No. 13 of Irish football training camp, “just to see how I’m handling everything.”
Head coach Marcus Freeman’s smile tells the story of what Grupe’s post-spring surge has done to his own heart rate.
That was evident during Friday’s media-open practice, when Freeman proposed he drop the team’s least favorite-practice period — the team tempo period, with lots of running — from Friday’s agenda if Grupe could nail a 42-yard field goal with his teammates making noise to distract him.
Then Freeman called a timeout to ice the 5-foot-7, 156-pound Sedalia, Mo., product.
“I enjoy it,” Grupe said of the tactic.
Then he split the uprights with at least 10 yards to spare and good-naturedly talked a little smack to Freeman as his teammates celebrated.
“They put me into the wind, which was not very nice of them,” Grupe said with a grin. “Executing in those scenarios, it’s such a good feeling. I think it was Marist (Liufau), who literally lifted me up. That’s the kind of stuff you literally just love to go out there and do.
“Those are confidence-boosters. The guys, you’re showing out in front of the guys. You're saving their legs. (And) to coach Freeman, I was saying, ‘You can’t shake me. You can’t ice me.’ Just making sure he knows he can’t break me.”
Yet Grupe, recently named fifth-ranked Notre Dame’s starting place-kicker for the Sept. 3 season opener at No. 2 Ohio State, looked broken in the spring. Sophomore challenger Josh Bryan too.
First-year Irish special teams coach Brian Mason knew some of his best options for some of the specialist positions, including holder, wouldn’t arrive until June, so he didn’t sweat Grupe’s accuracy issues in the spring.
Once Harvard transfer Jon Sot arrived for summer school, everything changed for Grupe. In addition to being an adept and experienced holder, the walk-on has edged out freshman Bryce McFerson for the punting job for now as well.
McFerson, though, easily won the kickoff job, with Mason approximating an 80% touchback rate.
“I think that’s realistic,” he said. “That will depend on conditions or whatnot. That would put him in the top 5 in the country.”
“He’s a freak of an athlete.” Grupe offered of McFerson, a two-time state wrestling champion at Metrolina Christian Academy in Indian Trails, N.C., and a state contender in track and field this past spring in the long jump (second), triple jump (fourth) and 4x100 relay (third).
“I think he jumped 118 (inches) on a (standing) broad jump as soon as he got here. He’s like 5% body fat. He’s a unicorn. He just loves kicking. He loves special teams. Loves everything. I think you guys are in for a treat week 1 when he goes off and kicks it off.”
The 5-11, 198-pound Sot doesn’t have the raw ability that McFerson possesses in the punting game, but he has the edge in experience and consistency under pressure.
And as a holder, he had a history with Grupe. The two of them met long before this summer attending summer college camps staged by outside specialist trainer Adam Tanalski.
“He held at Harvard,” Grupe said of Sot. “He’d held for me at these camps. So it’s kind of really worked out that he came here. He's a heck of a holder. He’s smooth. All the trust in the world with him. He does a good job.”
Grupe built on the chemistry with Sot by getting physically stronger under Notre Dame director of football performance Matt Balis. Tangibly it added to his range (with a best of 56 yards in a pre-practice warmup) and his body stability.
“I’m not sure if I can get through another summer of that again,” he said. “Because every day they’d make something up. And you’re like, ‘Holy Cow, how am I going to get through this today?’ But when you do, you get through with the guys – you're building that brotherhood.
“You’re coming together as a team. And that’s just what you do – keep inclining, getting better, getting ready for the season.”
Freeman did his part by putting Grupe through every possible scenario, including have him rush onto the field at the end of the game to attempt a kick without lining up his steps.
Charting the field goals helped tell the story of Grupe’s improvement. His Apple Watch helped him gauge how he was dealing with the pressure.
“You try to hit every single situation if possible,” he said. “We work it. We’ve prepared for about anything you could possibly think of.”
Including Ohio State?
Grupe noted that in fashioning a career .744 accuracy rate on field goals and an .800 conversion rate last season at Arkansas State, he’s kicked on big stages on the road, such as Alabama, Nebraska and Georgia. He also noted he was going to be kicking in Ohio Stadium this season one way or another.
Had he not transferred, Grupe would be kicking for the Red Wolves the very next weekend against the Buckeyes on Sept. 10.
“It’s what they brought me here to do,” Grupe said of handling the big moments. “It’s what I came to do. It's a dream to be here and do this kind of stuff and be the man.
“And so, I expected (to be named the starting kicker). It doesn’t change anything. If anything, just keep working harder, because I’m going to be put in more situations like that. So by no means does it make anything easier, but I’m confident.
“Everybody believes in me. The guys on the team believe in me. I believe in my operation. I’m just ready to get out there and show it.”
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