Notre Dame puts walk-on safety Luke Talich on scholarship
When Notre Dame recruited Cody (Wyo.) High safety Luke Talich as a preferred walk-on, the Irish told him he could potentially receive a scholarship after one year. It only took one semester.
Talich is on scholarship, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman confirmed after practice Thursday morning. The sophomore has three years of eligibility remaining and he’s expected to compete for playing time in 2024.
“He’s earned that right,” Freeman said. “He’ll be in the competition with [fellow sophomore safety] Adon [Shuler] and everybody that’s there. It’s good. Those two guys make each other better.”
With graduate student safety Xavier Watts locked in at one starting safety spot, Talich is among the candidates to fill the other. The favorite is graduate transfer Rod Heard, but he won’t practice until August as he finishes his degree at Northwestern. Throughout the spring, Talich will compete with Shuler and fellow sophomore Ben Minich for reps. Shuler played with the first team opposite Watts during Thursday’s practice.
Notre Dame loves to use its three-safety “Spear” personnel package, which should create playing-time opportunities for the sophomores in the event Heard wins the job.
As a walk-on freshman in 2023, Talich played in eight games — mostly on special teams — before his season ended due to a broken collarbone. A source told Blue & Gold that Talich might need extra foam or other alterations in his shoulder pads, but he’d be good to go for spring ball. Talich was a full participant Thursday morning.
Notre Dame quickly identified the speedy, 6-foot-4 Talich as a candidate for special teams, with then-safeties coach Chris O’Leary calling him a “freak” in August. The Irish started him on the kickoff team, officially burning his redshirt Oct. 7 against Louisville. He made two tackles as a kick coverage player and made one of the best blocks of the season, too.
On Oct. 28 against Pittsburgh, playing on the punt return team, Talich pancaked former Notre Dame linebacker Shayne Simon. That block set Tyree loose for an 82-yard return for a touchdown.
Talich chose Notre Dame over FBS scholarship offers from Oregon State, Utah, Wyoming, Washington State and Colorado State. The Irish fought hard to win his recruitment, and their efforts are paying off on the field.
“We talked to him every night leading up to signing day,” O’Leary said in August. “He called us the night before signing day. He was going to bet on himself because he wanted to be here and be a part of this culture and this program. He made that decision and we were fired up. We were going crazy when he told us that.”
The next step for Talich after his impressive season was to add weight and muscle. He did that, and his once-slender frame now weighs 210 pounds. He could be a key player for Notre Dame as soon as this fall.
