Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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72 MARCH 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2026 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY TYLER JAMES E rin Beck knows just about every high school coach who sends a football player to Notre Dame raves about the rare talent their player possessed as a high schooler. That doesn't mean you can convince Beck, the head football coach at Great Bend (Kan.) High, that Notre Dame signee Ian Premer is any- thing but special. Beck describes Premer, who Rivals ranks as the No. 1 tight end in the 2026 class, as "one of one." Not just for Pre- mer's talent, but his tremendous ability to understand and process the game. When Premer received Notre Dame's playbook in January, Beck believed he learned the entirety of it within a few weeks. "He's always thinking," Beck told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "He was my best coach on staff, and that's including myself, this last season. Just the way he thinks and the questions he asks. He and I got together on the weekends and just went over things that he saw. He just always brought great ideas. "That's what you love about sports when you got kids you can trust. We're going to miss the hell out of him." Fortunately for Great Bend, the com- munity didn't have to say farewell to Premer early. He opted to finish out his full senior season, which allowed him to play one last season of high school basketball. "For me, it wasn't worth it to give up my senior year of basketball to get there five or six months early," Premer said. "Even though that development is great, I just really wanted to finish what I started here, leave nothing behind, and then move on to the next part of my life at Notre Dame." Premer grew up thinking basketball would carry him into college athletics. But it's been clear since his sophomore year at Great Bend that football became Premer's best athletic path. College coaches started to project Premer, who primarily play wide receiver and safety in his sophomore season, as a tight end prospect. Premer embraced the idea of becom- ing a tight end, committed himself to gaining weight and expanded his skill set. Great Bend used him as a pass catcher, ball carrier, deep defender and kickoff/punt returner at times during his junior season in 2024. After he com- mitted to Notre Dame last summer, Pre- mer added more tight end responsibili- ties while remaining incredibly versatile in his senior season. "My high school coaching staff did a really good job of putting me in different positions across our offense to help me get a feel for everything that I'm going to be doing as a tight end," Premer said. "Some of that lead-iso blocking, some of the inline stuff and then obviously all of the routes. They made sure I was caught up on those. They were a big part in me growing my development as an offensive player." Premer capped his high school foot- ball career with 40 receptions for 734 yards and 14 touchdowns and 56 rushes for 620 yards and 14 touchdowns in 12 games as a senior. He added 68 tack- les, 5 tackles for loss, 6 interceptions (2 returned for touchdowns), 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery, 1 fumble forced and 1 blocked field goal.' "You can just use him in every pos- sible way," Beck said, "because he just has such a football mind. It's unreal." Beck prioritized finding ways to get Premer the football while also giving him more opportunities to grow as a blocker. "He just took huge strides forward," Beck said. "The way he can block on the edge is pretty impressive." P re m e r 's p hys i ca l d eve l o p m e n t from a 205-pound wide receiver to a 235-pound tight end made the added blocking assignments reasonable for the 6-foot-6 Premer to handle. Ian Premer Dives Into Playbook Premer was ranked by Rivals as the No. 1 tight end in the 2026 class. PHOTO VIA YOUTUBE