One Final Look: Cole Kmet, Leaving His Mark
BlueandGold.com had a chance during last season to catch up with all three of the top-three-round picks for Notre Dame in the 2020 NFL Draft — Cole Kmet, Chase Claypool and Julian Okwara — to hear their unique stories of challenge and triumph, diversity and dedication.
Here is Part I of a three-part series on those gone but not-forgotten players.
When looking for a character check on a young man’s legacy that stands strong three years after his high school graduation, a quick call to the folks at St. Viator near Chicago provides everything necessary regarding its proud alumnus and eventual standout Notre Dame athlete Cole Kmet.
Mike Manno, Kmet’s high school baseball coach, called his former student, “a once in a lifetime young man.”
Irish head football coach Brian Kelly agreed, calling his junior tight end last season a “very unique and mature young man,” and adding, “you don’t find many like him.”
Not even the athletics secretary at St. Viator could keep from weighing in over the phone when Kmet’s name came up: “We wish we had 20 more Coles moving through here,” she said.
So, what exactly is it about this engaging young man and star athlete that so readily impresses everyone he meets?
“His drive for excellence, his drive to make people better,” Manno explained. “I can tell you that he’s made me a better baseball coach and a better person just being around him.”
During his time in high school, Kmet affectionately earned the nickname “the freak” because of his rare combination of size, speed and athleticism.
That monicker stuck during Kmet’s time at Notre Dame and will expectedly follow him again back to Chicago when the time eventually comes to join the Bears as a rookie tight end.
Last week, the Bears selected Kmet in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft, making him the first tight end and first of six Irish players to hear their names called.
Kmet, 6-6, 262 pounds, was forecast as a first- or second-round pick, even though some questions persisted about his foot speed — puzzling, given that this nimble giant ran a 4.7 in the 40-yard dash last February at the NFL Combine, becoming only the fifth tight end in the last 20 years to post a 4.7 time or better in the event while standing at least 6-6 and weighing at least 260 pounds.
Rob Gronkowski, Jason Witten and Kellen Davis are three notable members of this exclusive fraternity.
“[Kmet] has plenty of speed,” Kelly insisted, dismissing any suggestion to the contrary. “He’ll be able to utilize it against safeties and nickel matchups. Speed will not be an issue with Cole Kmet.”
During his time at Notre Dame, Kmet added his name to the list of Irish athletes who accepted and survived the juggling act of playing two sports — football and baseball — with the endless academic challenges.
Kmet played three years of football and two seasons of baseball as a flame-throwing lefty relief pitcher.
“The spring is tough,” Kmet recalled of managing his time during the time when football and baseball seasons overlap. “It’s definitely a learning process but it is something you get accustomed to.”
Kmet accelerated his acclimation as a freshman in 2018 by reaching out to Jeff Samardzija, a standout Notre Dame baseball pitcher and a two-time Irish all-American wide receiver in 2005-06. Samardzija was preparing for his 13th season as a MLB starting pitcher when college and professional sports were suspended in March.
“[Samardzija] told me it will seem chaotic at first, but once you get into the routine of things it will just kind of flow, and that turned out to be really true,” said Kmet, who not only excelled in his two sports at Notre Dame but also carried a 3.5 GPA with a double major in political science and economics, and vows to return and finish his degree work. “Once I got into the routine, it just kind of clicked for me.”
And given Kmet’s lineage, it is easy to understand why a long and successful football future awaits.
Cole’s father, Frank Kmet, was a defensive tackle at Purdue from 1988-91 and a fourth-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills. Cole’s brother Casey Kmet was a freshman catcher and infielder on the Irish during the truncated 2020 baseball season.
And the brother of Cole’s mother, uncle Jeff Zgonina, spent 17 seasons as an NFL defensive lineman through the 1990s and 2000s.
Cole’s 6.34 player rating post-combine indicates he will become an NFL starter within his first two seasons in the league.
“All the hard work I have been putting in, it’s definitely nice to know that it’s paying off,” Kmet said. “It’s exciting to know that I have a lot of progression left to come and a lot of opportunities ahead.”
Next Up: Chase Claypool
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