Erik Schmidt can’t fix Notre Dame’s kicking problems ahead of this season’s College Football Playoff.
But the Irish identified Schmidt as someone who can help be a solution in the future. On Monday, Schmidt, a senior kicker/punter at Milwaukee’s Marquette University High, announced his verbal commitment to Notre Dame. He’s expected to sign with the Irish on Wednesday as a scholarship recruit when the three-day early signing period begins.
Schmidt had been committed to Wisconsin since June as a preferred walk-on recruit. The Irish had previously offered Schmidt a walk-on opportunity in April, but he opted to stay in his home state without a scholarship.
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Notre Dame’s decision to invest a scholarship on a high school kicker or punter is a change in recent strategy under head coach Marcus Freeman. Notre Dame hasn’t used a scholarship on one since punter Bryce McFerson in the 2022 class, who was initially recruited under former Irish head coach Brian Kelly. Notre Dame has been heavily reliant on graduate transfers at the positions.
In Schmidt, Notre Dame has a player who could become both a kicker and punter at the college level. Rivals rates the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Schmidt as a three-star kicker and will rank the top players at the position in January. Kohl’s Kicking ranks Schmidt as the No. 1 punter and the No. 26 kicker in the 2025 class.
Schmidt, who was selected to play in the Under Armour All-America Game, reported making 10 of his 13 field goal attempts in his senior season. The misses came from 49, 52 and 60 yards out. He set a school record by making a 55-yard field goal. Schmidt also reported a net punting average of 46 yards with 13 of his 25 punts pinning the opponent inside their own 20-yard line and didn’t allow any punt return yardage. Schmidt also kicked touchbacks on 70 of his 75 kickoffs this season.
Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi spent a lot of time with Schmidt throughout his recruiting process. Schmidt visited Notre Dame several times in the past few years, including four times since Biagi was hired by Notre Dame in March 2023. Schmidt camped at Notre Dame in June, and he returned for official visit to Notre Dame over the weekend. He spent time with Biagi and general manager Chad Bowden after they returned from the win over USC.
Notre Dame will return starting punter James Rendell in the 2025 season, but it will need to replace graduate senior kicker Mitch Jeter, who is 6-of-12 on field goals this season after transferring in from South Carolina.
The addition of Schmidt increased Notre Dame’s 2025 class to 24 verbal commitments. The Irish are publicly chasing two more targets in the 2025 class: four-star linebacker Madden Faraimo and four-star defensive lineman Jalen Wiggins, a Florida commit. The Irish could very well whiff on both.
Notre Dame’s 2025 class is ranked No. 11 in the country with a star average of 3.67 and 2,360 points in the Rivals team recruiting rankings formula. Notre Dame’s 2024 class finished with a No. 9 ranking, a 3.83-star average and 2,528 points.
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