Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com APRIL 2022 35 First-year special teams coordina- tor Brian Mason passionately and suc- cinctly summed up his philosophy dur- ing his introductory media session. "We're going to be aggressive and we want to be creative," said Mason, who coached Cincinnati's special teams from 2018-21. "We do not want to be conservative." Spoken like a coach whose unit led the country in blocked kicks last season. Mason's special teams units won't be on display until this fall, but his aggres- siveness has already revealed itself in another area: roster building. He's cre- ating as much competition as possible. Last fall, the specialist succession plans seemed straightforward. Sopho- more Josh Bryan, an acclaimed kicker recruit, would replace Jonathan Do- erer. In November, Notre Dame flipped punter Bryce McFerson from Wake For- est when it realized Jay Bramblett was departing as a graduate transfer. Mason has no apparent desire to hand anyone an uncontested job. He brought in Arkansas State graduate transfer kicker Blake Grupe to compete with Bryan, a battle that started this spring. The punter competition will pick up this summer when McFerson and sixth-year graduate transfer Jon Sot arrive. The latter is a walk-on who was a two-time first-team All-Ivy League selection. Elsewhere, freshman walk-on Rino Monteforte will be one of three long snap- pers on the roster when he enrolls this summer. Graduate student Michael Vin- son is locked into that job, though. It would be a surprise if running back Chris Tyree relinquishes kick return duties. The punt return job is open after Kyren Williams' departure, though spring rarely brings a resolution to it. Sophomore wide receiver Lorenzo Styles is a strong candidate. Spring practice is a time for younger players to make cases to play on special teams. They may not have clear paths at their main positions, but if they can gain the staff's trust, special teams of- ten are a good compromise for a year. In the spirit of aggressiveness, though, Mason wants to see more starters add special teams duties to their plate. ALL EYES ON … GRADUATE STUDENT BLAKE GRUPE It's possible not enough people are talking about the departure of Jonathan Doerer. A three-year starter, Doerer was a solid placekicker for the Fighting Irish for a long time. He made two ice-cold game win- ners last season. Grupe is the all-time leading scorer in Arkansas State history, but there is a magnifying glass on Notre Dame kickers in a way there isn't in Jonesboro. PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coach: Brian Mason (1st season) Departing Starters: P Jay Bramblett (trans- ferred to LSU) and PK Jonathan Doerer (ex- hausted eligibility) Returning Starter: Graduate student Michael Vinson at LS Projected New Starters: Graduate students Blake Grupe at PK and Jon Sot at P Also Back: Sophomore Josh Bryan at PK New Faces: Grupe (grad transfer from Arkansas State) at PK, freshman Bryce McFerson at PK and Sot (grad transfer from Harvard) SPECIALISTS NUMBERS TO KNOW 0.25 Was Notre Dame's special teams Fre- meau Efficiency Index (FEI) rating in 2021, which ranked 41st in the nation. Cincinnati ranked 12th with a rating of 0.72 under now-Irish special teams coordinator Brian Mason, good for 11th in the country. 5 Is the number of new faces Notre Dame will have in the special teams room in 2022. The Irish have added two transfers, a freshman punter and two freshman walk-ons. The last time Notre Dame had two new starters at the positions was 2019 with punter Jay Bramblett and kicker Jonathan Doerer. 6 Blocked kicks — the most in the nation — for Cincinnati last season under Mason. The 35-year-old arrived in South Bend this offseason pledging to be more aggressive, even calling the "punt return" team the "punt block" team. Notre Dame blocked just one kick in 2021. POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH CAN GRUPE ESTABLISH HIMSELF? There are only three kickers listed on the Notre Dame spring roster: graduate student Blake Grupe and sophomores JOSH BRYAN and Chris Salerno. The former two will battle for first-team reps. Grupe has much more experience than Bryan, but Bryan did not have to transfer into Notre Dame. He was a three-star recruit and the No. 4 kicker in the country in the class of 2021. Grupe won't be able to just walk in and automatically assume the starting role. 2022 SPRING FOOTBALL OVERVIEW PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER BLAKE GRUPE