This Guy Plays Notre Dame Football: #86 Alizé Mack

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a roster full of players, and we want to talk about all of them. One Foot Down’s player profile series will take a look at every single one of them, and hopefully we all learn a little bit more about these guys, and Notre Dame’s chances for the upcoming 2018 season.

#86 Alizé Mack

Alizé Mack is the likely starting tight end for the 2018 Notre Dame football season, and the 6’4”, 244-pound senior is easily one of the most physically talented players on the roster. With fantastic size, solid speed and fluidity, and the ability to go up and snare jump balls over just about any defender, Mack should be one of the Irish offense’s most lethal weapons in the passing game.

Unfortunately, Mack’s career in South Bend has been all over the place. He earned playing time in 2015, managing to make 13 catches for 190 yards as a true freshman. However, he was suspended for academic reasons in 2016, missing the entire season as he practiced with the team and focused on getting his grades in order.

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Last year, Mack’s much-anticipated return to the gridiron clearly showed a little rust - he finished with just 19 catches for 166 yards and 1 TD, at times playing second fiddle at the tight end position to senior Durham Smythe, who reeled in 15 passes for 244 yards and a TD. Mack also finished the 2017 season on a sour note, getting himself suspended from the Citrus Bowl game against the LSU Tigers.

3 Things To Know About Alizé Mack

1. He came to ND with the name Alizé Jones, but changed his last name in the spring of 2017 to honor his step dad. Last year, upon his return from suspension, could be said to have been the Return of the Mack.
2. Mack was originally committed to the UCLA Bruins as a 4-star tight end recruit at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, but flipped to the Irish down the stretch. He was an Army All-American his senior season, amassing 41 receptions, 930 yards and 13 TDs and ranked by all the recruiting services as one of the best tight ends in the country. He was also high school teammates with now ND-teammate Nicco Fertitta.
3. Mack is a Film, Television, and Theatre major and has really worked hard to turn his academics around after his suspension in 2016.

Youtube Hot Fire

Country, Condiment, or Canon

Identifying the player as either a country, condiment, or member of the Star Wars Canon.

Volcano/Lava Sauce from Taco Bell.

Alizé Mack and Volcano/Lava Sauce are incredibly similar — awesome and explosively great when you have them, but in both cases the potential and promise were taken away (Taco Bell no longer has anything with Volcano/Lava Sauce on the menu, and obviously Mack has been suspended a couple times now).

Hopefully Mack returns for real this time, instead of one of those limited-time returns Taco Bell likes to do with things like Volcano/Lava Sauce. Also, hopefully they bring that back soon because it’s delicious.

2018 Forecast

I think this is the season where Alizé finally puts it all together and has a really nice year. ND hasn’t had a breakout tight end in quite some time despite a lot of talent at the position, and with another suspension for the Citrus Bowl having made Mack once again come to grips with reality and what he needs to improve, I think we will see a serious, focused Mack come out and have the best season of his career and serve as a go-to target for Brandon Wimbush in key situations.