Notre Dame Football: What does addition of Jack Nickel add to the Irish?

Notre Dame football added its first commitment to its class of 2022 late last week. They wasted little time adding its second in tight end Jack Nickel.

Notre Dame has landed 2022 commitment from Georgia tight end Jack Nickel Monday afternoon. The Georgia native was able to get to campus on this own not too long ago just to get all his boxes checked off and clearly that was the final step to pulling the trigger.

He has built a great relationship with new tight ends coach John McNulty and he’s made him feel extremely comfortable throughout his progress leading up to his announcement. Academics played a big role, like it usual does and that, along with the history of the Irish and tight ends, moved the needle heavily for Notre Dame. It was only a matter of time.

Nickel holds 26 offers at the moment from Wisconsin, Penn State, Oregon, LSU and many other top programs.

https://twitter.com/jacknickel86/status/1258194634746081280?s=21

What will Nickel bring to South Bend?

The 6’5,” 230-pound tight end from Milton, Georgia is big. He’s so young and he already looks like he could be ready to suit up for the Irish. Nickel has a great frame that not only is pretty filled out for his age but he’s also very athletic. He has strong hands that also looks like they swallow the football when he makes a catch and he adds really nice blocking skills for this early in his high school career. He plays against some of the top recruits in the state of Georgia, so you know he’s getting a ton of reps against quality opponents, which is always a plus when evaluating.

Nickel still has a lot of time to grow but what the Irish staff is already seeing and working with size wise, they obviously really like. One additional thing that really stood out when digging on some info for Nickel is his natural leading ability, which has been brought up quite a bit from coaches. If that translates into college, that’s a major boost. You just can’t teach leadership and you always want those type of leaders in your locker room.

The class of 2022 is heating up with Nickel being commit number two for the class in the past few days. As for if the Irish could be done with tight end recruits in 2022, I think it’s too early to call. It will depend heavily on if they take an additional one in this current class along side Cane Berrong or really how the season unfolds with the tight end roster right now on campus. I’d expect just one but you never know this early, as someone else could emerge that the staff really loves as well. Regardless, it’s a really nice start on the offensive side for 2022 and another boost to tight end coach John McNulty’s resume for the Irish already.