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Notre Dame Legacy Colin Grunhard Talks Visit, Walk-On Possibilities

Notre Dame legacy Colin Grunhard (Rivals.com)

Notre Dame is in Colin Grunhard’s blood.

Grunhard, a 2017 center from Roeland Park (Kan.) Bishop Miege, is the son of Tim Grunhard, a former Notre Dame center and Pro-Bowler, who started every game for the Irish during the 1988 championship season.

Grunhard’s father has been bringing him to Notre Dame games his whole life, but he had never experienced one like the Nevada game during his unofficial visit Saturday.

“That was really awesome,” Grunhard said. “I’d been there before, but I’d never been on the field before, so that was pretty cool.”

Grunhard added that having his father there made it all the more special.

“My dad was with us, so he saw how some things have changed and some are the same in some aspects,” Grunhard said. “It was pretty cool to get his perspective on it.”

Grunhard and his father aren’t just a father-son duo though. The elder Grunhard is also the offensive line coach at Colin’s high school, which Colin said is unique, but helpful.

“It’s a little different sometimes,” Grunhard said. “He’s a lot harder on me than other people, but it’s all good. Whenever I have a question or any problems, I can usually go to him and he’ll know what to do. It helps out a lot.”

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The Notre Dame legacy does not hold an offer from the Irish, but said he’s been discussing the possibility of walking on with the coaches.

“Right now, it’s sort of a preferred walk-on.” Grunhard said. “I have the grades and the ACT to get in to school, so it’s most likely going to be a preferred walk-on.”

Grunhard does hold a few offers from schools like Air Force and South Dakota, so he’s not entirely sure if he’ll take one of those scholarships or enroll at Notre Dame.

“I’m not exactly sure yet,” Grunhard said. “I’ll probably look around at some other schools and I’ll probably make my decision at the end of the season.”

Should he choose to walk on at Notre Dame, Grunhard said it would be lifelong goal achieved, and that he would immediately start working toward earning a scholarship.

“I’ve been going to games since I was very young,” Grunhard said. “I’ve always kind of idolized the team, so now that I’m in a position to possibly be on the team and earn a scholarship is pretty cool.”

Not only would Grunhard be realizing a dream, but he’d also be carrying on his family name.

“It would be awesome to do that and to try and earn a scholarship in my early years there,” Grunhard said. “It would be cool to play for the same school my dad did.”

Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable

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