Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Irish Legacy, Colin Grunhard Commits As A Preferred Walk-On

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are having a tough time out on the recruiting trail. Despite a strong work ethic and casting a wider net, Notre Dame has not seen the fruits of its labors over the past couple months. It did, however, just gain the commitment from a Notre Dame football legacy to join the Irish as a preferred walk-on in 2017.

Colin Grunhard, son of former Irish offensive lineman Tim Gruhard, committed to Notre Dame.

Colin started all 50 games of his high school career for Bishop Miege, including 14 playoff games. Bishop Miege is also the same school as a current Notre Dame wide receiver target and Missouri Tigers commit, Jafar Armstrong.

Armstrong spoke about Grunhard with Irish 247’s Tom Loy:

"Colin is one of the best players I've ever played with or against. It's sucks all D1 schools looked at his height as a problem and didn't offer him. He's definitely a top linemen in the Midwest and there's no doubt in my mind he'll earn a scholarship at Notre Dame."

One thing is for sure: The Irish have plenty of room in this class. Grunhard could earn a scholarship right away in the fall if Notre Dame is unable to fill out the rest of this class a little better.

Grunhard doesn’t hold any scholarship offers from any FBS school, but schools still wanted him as one of those preferred walk-ons. It would appear that, if he had just an extra inch or two on his frame, he would hold offers from schools of that caliber. He seems like a really good player with the determination and toughness that we all crave in an offensive lineman. Perhaps one day, he will get that chance to fight for a starting job at Notre Dame and continue the legacy his father started as a part of the 1988 national championship team.