Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State is only 19 days away
To preview one of the most anticipated games for Notre Dame this century and the official start of the Marcus Freeman era, BlueandGold.com is counting down the days to the matchup against Ohio State on Sept. 3.
This daily series of 99 stories celebrates by the numbers some of the most notable names, dates, moments and memories related to the past and present of Notre Dame football.
Today, with 19 days remaining until kickoff, we look at former Irish placekicker Justin Yoon.
Yoon, who makes a strong case as Notre Dame’s greatest PK in program history, donned the No. 19 jersey for Notre Dame from 2015-18 and set many school records playing in it.
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Click on Yoon’s und.com profile page and the computer screen immediately fills with an extensive list of the honors and records the four-year starter compiled at Notre Dame.
Highlighting his personal record book: Yoon is the Notre Dame career record holder in scoring (367), career field goals (59), and career field-goal percentage (.808). In all, Yoon still holds or shares 10 program records.
And those records could stand for a long time. If anyone breaks Yoon’s field goal record, it presumably will be a four-year starter, and those don’t come along often.
Yoon was an ESPN Freshman All-American in 2015 and a two-time member of the Lou Groza Award watch list for the nation’s best placekicker.
In 2017, Yoon went 55-of-55 on extra points, the most PAT attempts and makes in a single season by an Irish kicker.
Exceeding expectations
Born to parents of Korean descent, Yoon hails from Nashville, Tenn., but came to Notre Dame from Milton Academy, an elite boarding school in Milton, Mass.
After playing soccer through most of grade school, Yoon started placekicking in the eighth grade and eventually became the No. 1 rated high school kicker in the country from the 2015 recruiting class.
Forever proud of his Korean upbringing, Yoon became involved at Notre Dame in trying to gather students of the same heritage together to celebrate their ancestral roots.
Throughout Yoon’s childhood his mother, Mihwa, supported their family by running a pharmacy while his father, Jiseop, was a stay-at-home dad to Justin and his brother Eric. Before becoming a father, Jiseop was an Olympic figure skater.
Because of his laser accuracy, Justin Yoon left Notre Dame as a highly-regarded NFL prospect.
And while those professional dreams never panned out — Yoon tried out for the Chicago Bears but was cut — his record-setting career at Notre Dame will be remembered for decades to come.
