Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis is gettin’ special.  The Irish offered two top tier kicker recruits recently in Nick Tausch and Dustin Hopkins.  While it was Hopkins that visited the campus on the 9th, and from all accounts came away really impressed, it was Tausch that pulled the trigger and committed on Tuesday, as soon as he was offered.

Hopkins and Tausch are considered by some to be the #1 and #2 kickers in the class of 2009 respectively - apparently Hopkins has the distance edge, but Tausch is ’smoother’ and has a better hangtime. 

As a former kicker, I can say that either option would’ve been great, but I’d rather have the latter if I was forced to choose.  Power doesn’t come easily, but the shift from HS to college should result in increased muscle mass and therefore more power for Tausch.  And, frankly, kickers are a gamble.  Of course it’s always better to bring in the best kickers you can find - but they’re super high beta.  Boom or bust most often (can anyone say Jim Sanson?) with not a lot of room for in-between.   Hopkins wavered, and wasn’t sure, so Charlie went to the next option.   Without even seeing the campus or meeting Coach face to face, Nick was in.

Looks like ND special teams will be solidified for a while, with the #2 kicker and the #2 punter in the Class of ‘09  signed on.

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