Notre Dame lands commitment from grad transfer kicker Spencer Shrader
Notre Dame found its 2022 starting kicker in the transfer portal. The Irish are going that route again for their potential 2023 starter.
South Florida transfer kicker Spencer Shrader committed to Notre Dame Tuesday, he announced. He will be a graduate student with one year of eligibility left. He chose the Irish after taking an official visit last weekend.
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Shrader was 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) on field goal attempts and 37-for-37 on extra points this season. His longest field goal was 49 yards. For his career, he’s 28-for-41 on field goals, with a long of 52 yards, and has made 95 of his 96 extra point attempts. He also handled kickoffs for the Bulls the last three seasons, and his 80.65 touchback percentage this year ranks fourth in the FBS.
Shrader’s best season was in 2021, when he went 11-for-13 on field goals and was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist. That year, he hit 4 of 5 attempts from 40 to 49 yards and was 1-for-2 from 50-plus. He has never missed inside 30 yards, is 7 of 10 from 30 to 39 yards, 10 of 16 from 40 to 49 yards and 1 of 5 from 50 or further.
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USF added Shrader in 2019 as a walk-on from Lithia (Fla.) Newsome High School, where he was a first-team all-state selection as a senior in 2017. After graduation, he pursued a professional soccer career in Canada and Brazil for several months before enrolling at USF in 2019.
At Notre Dame, Shrader will be in the mix to replace departing Notre Dame kicker Blake Grupe, a grad transfer addition from Arkansas State last January. Grupe, a sixth-year senior, is 13-for-18 on field goals this year and 43-for-43 on extra points. Without Grupe, Notre Dame has junior-to-be Josh Bryan, walk-on sophomore Chris Salerno and walk-on freshman Zac Yoakam as returning specialists. Yoakam handled kickoffs and beat out Bryan for the backup kicker job.
As it stands, Shrader is one of five Notre Dame scholarship specialists with 2023 eligibility, joining Bryan, freshman punter Bryce McFerson, junior long snapper Alex Peitsch and grad student long snapper Michael Vinson. Vinson, the starter since 2020, announced his return for a sixth season earlier this month. McFerson is expected to take over punting duties from departing starter Jon Sot.
Shrader is the first addition Notre Dame has made from the transfer portal this cycle.
