Jack Kiser Is Ready To Step Into The Spotlight And Shine
Linebacker Jack Kiser recalled the first start of his Notre Dame career with a smile on his face.
“That was a crazy day," Kiser said in advance of Notre Dame's opener against Florida State. "You know, going from thinking I was just gonna be a special teams player to waking up the day of the game and find out you're starting. I remember calling my dad I was like, ‘Hey, don't be late to this game.’”
Crazy is an apt description of that day, Notre Dame’s second game of the 2020 season against South Florida in which the Irish found out they would be without seven players and several starters due to Covid less than 24 hours before kickoff.
“Luckily, I was prepared, I'm very fortunate to be surrounded by guys in that linebacker room that even though I might not have been expected to play, we were still going in as a group after practice, watching film and make sure everybody's ready,” Kiser explained.
Ready is a bit of an understatement, as Kiser led Notre Dame’s defense that game with 8 tackles (7 solo), two of which went for losses.
Almost a full year later, Kiser is now at the top of the depth chart for Notre Dame at the rover position, and he will once again be starting come Sunday night in Tallahassee, and not due to emergency.
“Super excited, Florida State is going to be an awesome atmosphere," Kiser said. "I've been working hard ever since I showed up here at Notre Dame, everybody's been pushing me, you’re pushing yourself. Fortunately, we have a lot of depth at the linebacker position so that has made me a better player, it's made everybody else a better player too.”
Though that depth at the linebacker position recently took a blow with the loss of Marist Liufau, the presumed starter at Will, to a season-ending ankle injury, at the rover position the Irish have Kiser at the top and fifth-year senior Isaiah Pryor and senior Paul Moala listed as “Ors” on the depth chart.
“The ors I mean, you never know who's gonna go out there," Kiser explained. "So it could be me, could be Zay, could be Paul, so you just got to be prepared, and you can't let a decision really get to you. Confidence wise, if my name is called on Sunday night, I have to be ready to go out there and perform and produce.”
One thing’s for sure, Kiser definitely answered the bell a season ago on short notice, and this season the Royal Center, Indiana native believes he’s improved in multiple areas.
“Just getting better athleticism, strength, confidence has been a huge thing, whether that's coming in here and doing one on ones or what not during the offseason. Just getting more reps under the belt, or film we're looking at last year, like what were some of the weaknesses, what's something I can get better at?” Kiser noted.
Kiser and company will certainly have giant shoes to fill at the rover position with Butkus Award winner Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah now in the NFL, but Kiser is focused more on doing what he’s best at than replacing his former teammate's talents.
“I'm a different player than Wu," stated the Irish junior linebacker. "If you turn on the film, Wu just had that, just when the play was going his instincts were just off the charts. So I pride myself on rather being smart pre-snap, what are they giving us? What information can I gather and going from there.”
Kiser also thinks the combination of he, Pryor and Moala together can help fill the void left by Owusu-Koramoah.
“If you look at the three of us, we all have a little different style of play," continued Kiser. "Zay is very good in coverage and very athletic and twitchy and quick, and Paul's made a ton of plays in the past, and he's coming back from an achilles injury and he’s going to make more plays. And then, you got me who I would like to think I'm very consistent and doing my job and not letting the team down … we don't have a guy with the skill set as Wu, but I think as a core, as a unit, we can fill in Wu's shoes together.”
Notre Dame is also without last year’s defensive coordinator, Clark Lea, whom Kiser credited with having him prepared for the USF game. According to Kiser, new DC Marcus Freeman is already getting the most out of his players.
“I don't know how many times he tells us ‘just be a playmaker,’" Kiser explained. "We're asking questions, we want definite answers, and he says, ‘You know what, just be a playmaker’. ‘You're not wrong when you're right? Right.’
"Just having that freedom in that just the ability to rely on your instincts and play football has been such a game changer and really allowed guys to reach a new level,” Kiser stated. “Coach Freeman as a person is an awesome guy, ton of energy, and he's one of those guys who's going to show you his emotion on the field in terms of practice and then we'll look at in the film room and then move on and learn something from it and get better from it. So I respect that a lot of him in his ability to communicate with us as players.”
Kiser welcomes the idea of more man coverage in Freeman’s defense, mentioning he believes he can match up and hold his own with anyone on the field, especially after dedicating a lot of offseason training and practice time to it.
In three years Kiser has gone from a small town, 1A high school football star to a week 1 starter for Notre Dame. No doubt a remarkable rise, and Kiser believes coming to Notre Dame and watching talented upperclassmen only strengthened his confidence.
“You know, the first day you step in, you see Wu, you see Asmar Bilal and it's like, holy crap, there's a lot of studs out here," Kiser said. "But that reinforced my mindset, put your head down and work hard.”
“And like they say, work in the shadows and be a shadows man and your time will come.
Sunday night, it’ll be time for Kiser to step out of the shadows and shine in front of 80,000 plus inside Doak Campbell Stadium. If it goes anything like it did the first time, Notre Dame football will be in good shape.
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