Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546785
16 OCT. 3, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY ERIC HANSEN D uring Notre Dame's kicker cri- sis last season, during which the Irish went without a made field goal over the final six games of the season, wide receiver Matt Jeffery kept his mouth shut about pos- sessing that skill set. "I mean, I was a decent kicker in high school," Jeffery said after a recent Irish football practice. "I've done it ever since I was in, like, third grade. I could punt the ball pretty well. I could kick a field goal. I haven't done it since I was in high school. "I haven't told [special teams] coach [Marty] Biagi really that I could kick as well as I could. I just let the kickers do that work, and focused on trying to just get bigger, stronger, and a good blocker for those guys." As Notre Dame moved past the first quarter of its 2026 season, Jeffery has become Notre Dame's new special teams stalwart for all those reasons, despite not dabbling in the kicking aspect of it. In fact, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound ju- nior and former football walk-on from Cheshire, Conn., ranks third nation- ally, per Pro Football Focus' film grades (90.7), among all special teams players in the FBS who have logged at least 40 special teams snaps, regardless of role. Jeffery, who blocked a punt in the 27-10 win over Michigan State Sept. 19, works on the kickoff return, kickoff coverage, punt return and punt coverage teams. And that special teams excellence is opening the door for more opportuni- ties as a position player, just as it did for fellow former walk-ons safety Luke Talich and wide receiver Jordan Faison. WHAT'S FUELING JEFFERY'S ASCENT "I don't think there's a specific thing that would carry weight in terms of a common denominator," Biagi said of the trio of former walk-ons, "as much as you just kind of see what they're willing to do and the sacrifice they're willing to make. "We just have a lot of those in our program, and you could go back again and point to so many different plays of people doing that. [Former Irish spe- cial teamer] Leo Scheidler ends up on more of our kickoff returns after being subbed in accidentally for somebody on the front line, and we return it for OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS Special teams became the launching point for former walk-on Matt Jeffery's expanding role and growing football dreams