With Kyle Brindza gone, sophomore Tyler Newsome takes over the punting duties. And outside of seeing a few not-really live kicks in the Blue-Gold game, what that means remains to be seen.
Newsome has earned solid review from the coaching staff and is a long-levered kid, standing much taller than your average punter. But with he and Justin Yoon taking over the kicking duties, it’s a brave new world on Scott Booker’s special teams units, and we could be looking at four-straight seasons of the same battery—and that’s the best case scenario.
Let’s look closer at Notre Dame’s starting punter.
TYLER NEWSOME
6'2.5", 205 lbs.
Sophomore, No. 85, P
RECRUITING PROFILE
No specialist is a highly-touted recruit, but Newsome did garner a three-star ranking by Rivals and was a Semper Fidelis All-American game participant. He also was the No. 4 ranked punter according to Kohl’s Kicking School.
The All-State Georgia performer got offered a scholarship by Notre Dame after camping in South Bend and that was it.
PLAYING CAREER
Freshman Season (2014): Did not see action.
WHAT WE SAID LAST YEAR
Pretty much exactly what happened.If Newsome sees the field this year, it’s because something bad happened to Kyle Brindza. It’s most likely that Newsome will save a year of eligibility and then take the field in 2015, where he’ll be competing with incoming freshman kicker Justin Yoon.
My guess? Newsome will be punting and Yoon kicking in 2015, a lot of pressure on two young scholarship specialists.
It’s hard to get too serious about digging into the YouTube clips of high school kickers and punters, but Newsome is exactly what the coaching staff wanted when they decided to offer a scholarship to a specialist. He’s a versatile kicker with high upside who has shown the ability to do multiple jobs at the high school level, but a guy that projects easily as a punter at the very least.
Newsome will have some responsibilities hoisted on his shoulders soon. But it won’t happen in 2014.
FUTURE POTENTIAL
I’d be lying to you if I had some deep-diving analysis here. But I’ll give you the cliff notes:
Newsome’s the punter. There’s nobody else on scholarship that can do the job. So the Irish coaching staff must have a pretty solid belief that they’ve targeted the right guy for the job, especially after getting a season to look at him during practice.
CRYSTAL BALL
The best part of this projection? I don’t think Notre Dame’s punter is going to get much work this season. The Irish offense should render Newsome fairly obsolete, though I do hope his ability to directional punt is better than most young kickers.
If you’re looking for something out of Newsome, it’s the hope that he’s consistent. If anything can kill the momentum of a football team, it’s a punter who might send one 45 yards on his first attempt only to mishit one 25 yards a kick later. (Fans might have their suspicions who I’m thinking about here.)
Do I care if Newsome has as strong of a leg as a guy like Brindza? Not really, as long as he catches the snap, kicks the ball consistently, and understands that a punt downed inside the 15 is a lot better than the one that barely rolls into the end zone.
THE 2015 IRISH A-to-Z
Josh Adams, RB
Josh Barajas, OLB
Nicky Baratti, S
Alex Bars, OL
Asmar Bilal, OLB
Hunter Bivin, OL
Grant Blankenship, DE
Jonathan Bonner, DE
Miles Boykin, WR
Justin Brent, WR
Greg Bryant, RB
Devin Butler, CB
Jimmy Byrne, OL
Daniel Cage, DL
Amir Carlisle, RB
Nick Coleman, DB
Te’von Coney, LB
Shaun Crawford, DB
Scott Daly, LS
Sheldon Day, DL
Michael Deeb, LB
Micah Dew-Treadway, DL
Steve Elmer, RG
Matthias Farley, DB
Nicco Fertitta, DB
Tarean Folston, RB
Will Fuller, WR
Jarrett Grace, LB
Jalen Guyton, WR
Mark Harrell, OL
Jay Hayes, DL
Mike Heuerman, TE
Kolin Hill, DE
Tristen Hoge, C
Corey Holmes, WR
Chase Hounshell, TE
Torii Hunter, Jr. WR
Alizé Jones, TE
Jarron Jones, DL
DeShone Kizer, QB
Tyler Luatua, TE
Cole Luke, CB
Nick Martin, C
Greer Martini, LB
Jacob Matuska, DL
Mike McGlinchey, OT
Colin McGovern, OL
Peter Mokwuah, DL
John Montelus, OL
Nyles Morgan, LB
Sam Mustipher, OL
Quenton Nelson, OL