Brian Mason explains influx of new specialists at Notre Dame this offseason

Notre Dame has not been the biggest player in the transfer portal this offseason, although they did land All-American Brandon Joseph. Outside of that, their additions have come on special teams, both through the portal and via walk-on players. 

The Irish plucked former Arkansas State kicker Blake Grupe from the transfer portal, and Harvard graduate transfer and punter Jon Sot, incoming freshman kicker Zac Yoakam and incoming freshman long snapper Rino Monteforte will be walk-ons. 

Last week, new Notre Dame special teams coordinator Brian Mason spoke with the media about the new faces and shared why they were a priority item for him the moment he arrived in South Bend in early January. 

“Certainly across every position we want to have depth, and we want to have competition,” Mason said. “Competition breeds success.

“When I first came in here, there were four specialists on the roster. We had two kickers, both of which are freshmen, and two long snappers, both who had some experience. We didn’t have any true punters currently on the roster. Bryce McFerson will be joining us in June.”

Mason is right. He walked into a very short-handed special teams room. Jonathan Doerer, Notre Dame’s starting kicker for the last three years, exhausted his eligibility. Former Irish starting punter Jay Bramblett has transferred to LSU.

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“So obviously, looking at the numbers, for me to have depth, to be able to have competition and growth for the future, I believe you need eight to 10 specialists between kickers, punters and long snappers,” Mason said. “We had four with a fifth coming.

“We needed some more experience. We needed some more competition to be able to offset at certain positions where maybe we were a little inexperienced having to replace a starting kicker and a starting punter. How can we add some experience and some leadership in addition to some competition in areas where they’re talented but may be young?”

With the new players, Mason brought his special teams room to nine because walk-on kicker Chris Salerno is also on the roster. It remains to be seen if there will be any more additions after spring camp.

Grupe, Sot bring impressive bodies of work to South Bend

Mason certainly got the experience he needed in Grupe and Sot. And more.

The 2022 season will be Grupe’s sixth year of college football as he takes advantage of the COVID-19 blanket waiver.

In 2021, the Missouri native hit 20 field goals, which was tied for first in the Sun Belt and also broke the Arkansas State records for most made field goals and points in a single season. He attempted 25 field goals last season, meaning he hit 80% of his kicks, and he was 31-for-32 on extra points. His career long is 50 yards.

The 5-foot-8, 148-pound kicker has been the Sun Belt kicker of the week on several occasions, and he was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award in 2019, the annual honor given to the nation’s best placekicker.

Sot was a first-team All-Ivy League performer in 2018 and 2019. He averaged 41.1 yards per punt in 2018 and downed 19 of his 51 kicks inside the 20-yard line. His average was the second best in school history and led the Ivy League, and he led the Ivy League once again in 2019 with 42.3 yards per boot. 

Eight of Sot’s 57 punts this past season traveled farther than 50 yards with a long of 67. He downed 24 kicks inside the 20-yard line, only had two touchbacks and forced 28 fair catches. The Clark (N.J.) Saint Joseph High School product will earn a degree in economics from Harvard this May before arriving in South Bend.