Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2026 33 PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coach: Marty Biagi (4th season) Returning Players: KO/P Erik Schmidt and PR Jordan Faison Returning Reserves: LS Joseph Vinci Departing Players: H Tyler Buchner, K Noah Burnette, K Marcello Diomede, KR Jadarian Price and P James Rendell Transferred In: K Spencer Porath from Purdue Transferred Out: Diomede to Ohio State Incoming Freshmen: K Micah Drescher, P Jasper Scaife 2025 S P R I N G F O O T B A L L O V E R V I E W 2026 S P R I N G F O O T B A L L O V E R V I E W BY TYLER HORKA Q uietly, there hasn't been a more situated and set in stone operation across Notre Dame football in the Marcus Freeman era than that of special teams. Freeman is entering his fifth season as the program's head coach. Marty Biagi is entering his fourth as special teams coordinator. His involvement in game-planning has become synonymous with what Notre Dame has set out to accomplish while Freeman has been at the helm. It shouldn't come as any surprise consider- ing the relationship Freeman has fostered with Biagi. Every time there is an instance of special teams trickery in a Notre Dame game, of which there have been many over the years, it's traced back to an intentional meeting between Free- man and Biagi. They're typically on the same page, and that goes a long way in satisfactory results on Saturdays. Now, it hasn't always been something to write home about as far as special teams are concerned for Notre Dame lately. If 2024 was the year of successful fakes and meaningful third-phase moments that directly (and posi- tively) affected the outcomes of games in Notre Dame's favor, 2025 was the year of what-the-heck placekicking. Had the Irish qualified for the Col- lege Football Playoff, they'd have been in a world of hurt when it came to making significant field goals — or even extra points. Notre Dame was 5 of 9 on field goals last season. The Irish were 63 of 67 on extra points. Those percentages of 55.6 and 94.0 ranked 130th and 128th, respec- tively, in the FBS. There was a clear black stain on Notre Dame special teams, and there was no way Notre Dame could go into 2026 without ad- dressing it. So, the Irish did, rather covertly. Without ever entering the transfer portal, former Purdue placekicker Spencer Porath popped up on the Notre Dame roster. Porath made 15 of 17 at- tempts last season. Only 14 FBS kickers had a better percentage of field goals made than his 88.2. The Irish also flipped former Michigan signee Micah Drescher, ranked the No. 1 kicker in the country per kicking guru Chris Sailer, in January. Once again, the additions of Porath and Drescher to Notre Dame's special teams unit speaks to the overall deliberately cal- culated nature of what Biagi's been able to accomplish since he arrived in South Bend. Freeman has kept the program pointed up during his time in charge, and Biagi has satisfactorily fallen in line. ✦ SPECIALIS TS NUMBERS TO KNOW 3 Fighting Irish kickers missed an attempt of some kind in 2025. Noah Burnette missed one field goal and two extra points, ERIK SCHMIDT missed one extra point and three field goals and Marcello Diomede missed an ex- tra point. 4 Times in Notre Dame history a kicker has matched or exceeded Spencer Porath's 2025 field goal per- centage at Purdue of 88.2 on a mini- mum of 15 attempts. David Ruffer (.947 in 2010), John Carney (.895 in 1984), Nick Setta (.882 in 2001) and Justin Yoon (.882 in 2015) are the only ones to do it. 25 Punts for Notre Dame in 2025. Only two FBS teams punted fewer times; Southern Cal with 24 and Air Force with 23. For reference, Coastal Carolina led the country with 74 punts. ALL EYES ON … JUNIOR SPENCER PORATH Notre Dame has had a transfer placekicker in every season of the Marcus Freeman era, from Blake Grupe in 2022 to Spencer Shrader in 2023 to Mitch Jeter in 2024 and Noah Burnette in 2025. By percentage, Burnette was the most successful of them. He made 5 of 6 attempts (83.3 percent). Injuries made him unreliable, though, which was Jeter's issue as well. All eyes are on Porath to stay healthy and provide consistency. POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH PUNTER Erik Schmidt had a chance to grab Notre Dame's No. 1 placekicking job and run with it in 2025. He didn't do so in going 0 of 3 on field goals and 41 of 42 on extra points. With James Rendell exhausting his eligibil- ity, though, Schmidt can stake his claim as Notre Dame's primary punter. He has to hold off true freshman Jasper Scaife to earn that designa- tion. That will be an offseason-long battle that could very well last deep into preseason training camp. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER