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How Northwestern Football convinced homegrown two-sport athlete Jack Lausch to sign with the Wildcats, decommit from Notre Dame

The Chicago native, who had verbally committed to Notre Dame back in June, signed a letter of intent to play for Northwestern Thursday.

Jonathan Fernandez

Jack Lausch verbally committed to playing both baseball and football at Notre Dame in June of 2021. He was slated to play in the outfield for the baseball team and be a preferred walk-on at the quarterback position for the football program. That plan and Lausch were thrown for a loop when Northwestern offered on Dec. 6 and by December 13 Lausch had officially committed to the Wildcats.

“We stole one and I'm fired up about it,” Northwestern football head coach Pat Fitzgerald said in a press conference Thursday. “Jack’s a winner, he's a freakshow athlete. (He is) a young man who has the opportunity to come in and be a great dual threat quarterback for us.”

Lausch is a 6-foot-3, 195 pound quarterback with startling quickness and athleticism for someone of his stature. The Chicago native is coming off a huge senior season in which he won the Tony Lawless Player of the Year for the CCL Blue Conference. Lausch showed flashes of what he can do with both his arm and his legs in his final season at Brother Rice, throwing for 2,447 yards and 20 touchdowns and running for a total of 1,084 yards and 21 touchdowns.

So, how did Northwestern manage to pry away a two-sport athlete away from Notre Dame? 

Lausch told The Chicago Tribune that he was hoping to eventually earn a football scholarship as a walk-on at Notre Dame, but once the Wildcats offered, he knew he had to seize the best opportunity for himself.

“The recruiting process was tough,” Lausch admitted. “With COVID and all the other circumstances we faced, we were a little behind. I just had faith something was coming up and something did … this is something I’ve wanted for a really long time so to get one (scholarship offer), it was awesome.”

For Fitzgerald and Northwestern, their pitch to Lausch was simple. The head coach said in his media availability Thursday that he spoke to Lausch about the school’s academic and athletic resources, as well as the coaching staff’s ability to develop talent.

While it is unclear whether Lausch will suit up for the Northwestern baseball team, Fitzgerald was open to the idea. “Absolutely I had Josh (Northwestern baseball coach) get involved,” the head coach said. “Looking at what Jack is as an athlete, we’re going to do everything we can here to support him and whatever he pursues … (I) told him I’d love him to be the next Bo Jackson, so let's go do it.”

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Jonathan Fernandez
JONATHAN FERNANDEZ

Jonathan Fernandez is a reporter and writer for Wildcats Daily Sports Illustrated's FanNation Network. Fernandez is also pursuing his master's degree in sports media at Northwestern Medill.

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