Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL/MAY 2026 35 the reads wrong. I was trying to learn two or three different positions in that room, and I ended up not making the bus for the Ohio State game, which, you know, I had made the bus my whole freshman year." ADVERSITY FORCES AN INFLECTION POINT That was Notre Dame's 2022 season opener, and the regular-season debut for Freeman as Irish head coach — with the game at his alma mater, no less. "That was tough," Schweitzer said, "and as I was still settling in, the mes- sage from the coaches was like, 'OK, we're a little bit disappointed in your growth, but we're not discouraged.' So, I wasn't either, but we were playing Ohio State, and I went to the game to be on the sideline with the team. "And after the game happened, I was back home, and I was with my girlfriend at the time. I was walking around, and suddenly I was just drifting super hard to the right. Like, I couldn't get it into control. Then my voice stopped working. " I n m y h e a d , I thought I was speaking clearly, but one of my friends was like, 'What are you saying?' My girlfriend was great. She went to the store, got me some powdered d o n u ts a n d h a d m e drink some water. "She's like, 'You're probably dehy- drated, stressed about the game or the situation you're in.' So I ended up going to bed, and I woke up the next day, and I still couldn't really move my right hand, I was still having trouble getting out my words. And that's when I told the staff and my mom, and they sent me to the hospital." It took a few days for the medical personnel to determine Schweitzer had suffered a stroke. "How does this happen to such a young, healthy person who's in peak physical condition?" Schweitzer shared of his initial thoughts. "From that point, they did a bunch of scans. They were hav- ing a hard time figuring it out. But they ended up going into my heart and it turns out I had a small hole in part of my heart, which I have come to understand one in three people are actually born with. It's called PFO [Patent Foramen Ovale]. "So, it doesn't cause too many prob- lems. The theory is either during one of my lifting sessions or a contact- based drill, a lot of stress was put on the heart and pushed the clot through, and it ended up being shot into my brain shortly thereafter. "So that's why that had happened. And obviously, I had surgery to fix that, and then there was a recovery period there. But, you know, by the grace of God, I was totally OK." PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT And now he's more than OK — with both the destination and the contorted path that brought him there. "I don't know if I believe that every- thing happens for a reason all the time," Schweitzer said. "But I think looking back at this, it's actually one of the best things that ever happened to me. "The resilience I brought from it, be- ing able to look forward, being able to overcome obstacles, being from where I'm from. And, you know, I'm very blessed to say this, like my whole life, I didn't really have much struggle, right? I grew up with two parents. I grew up in a somewhat wealthy household where I always had three meals. "I came to Notre Dame and I'm on top of the world there. And, you know, for the first time, I really faced some true adversity. And that's how I was able to define who I am every day go- ing forward. "Before this, I complained some- times. I didn't appreciate every day, but now I wake up every day and I'm like, 'OK, I'm lucky to be here. You know, I'm going to make every day the best possible.' And I think because of that, yes, this has had a profound impact in a positive way on my life." Promise made, promise kept. And not a single second thought about what might have been had he an- swered when football offered him that second chance. "I kind of made the decision that my life trajectory was better without foot- ball at that point," he said. "And I actu- ally did before, the moment when Coach Freeman said this, and the doctors were saying X, Y, and Z about the risks, no, I did not think about transferring then ei- ther. My next thing was, 'OK, how can I still help this team?' Which I continued to do through player development. "And we instilled some player pro- grams and really tried to achieve that second part of my goal that I talked about earlier, which was leaving Notre Dame better than I found it. "And I think, in an abstract way, with Amir Carlisle on the player develop- ment side, I was able to do that. So I was really proud of myself for sticking around and doing that instead of turn- ing a cold shoulder to something I didn't necessarily agree with at the time." Notre Dame never took away Sch- weitzer's scholarship or even his locker in the locker room through his May 2024 graduation. He went to practices intermittently and games usually, but his investment in using the lessons of football in life was and remains a constant in his words and his actions. "Going back to that concept about not be- ing able to control your last snap," Schweitzer said, "I think it was important for me to talk to players about using the compe- tencies they learned on the football field to do great things in life. "I think it has set me apart at work, being able to be the guy who can get up at 5 a.m., and start working and leave late and not have to complain about it — because you've been doing that your whole career. And knowing that in football — or whatever sport you play — you're going to get knocked down, just like in the work world. You have failures. "You can get back up and keep going, and use the skills you've learned. So, though these games end — and they will always end for whoever it is, whether you're All-Pro or you never make it to the [National Football] League — it'll end. "But the impact that you can have because you did it doesn't have to. I think it's the big thing that I've learned throughout all of this." ✦ "I finally came to the conclusion, with my family and the coaching staff, that life was bigger than football. And I decided to get my Notre Dame degree and take the com- petency that I learned on the team to go do great things." SCHWEITZER