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One the first day of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish offseason, we get a bit of good news. According to Irish Illustrated’s Tim Prister, Notre Dame is expecting nose tackle Kurt Hinish to return to Notre Dame for the 2021 season.
Sources have told Irish Illustrated that #NotreDame nose tackle Kurt Hinish will take advantage of the free year offered by the NCAA in 2020 and will return for the 2021 season.
— Irish Illustrated (@timprister) January 2, 2021
Hinish is the second Notre Dame name that we have heard that will take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kicker Jonathan Doerer already made his decision about returning weeks ago.
Hinish is probably one of the next captains on this Notre Dame team, and he’s one of my personal favorites as he’s just one of those work hard type of players.
This sets up the likely return of both Hinish and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa to anchor the middle of the Notre Dame defensive line in 2021. These two have been major players on the defensive line since the Georgia game in 2017. MTA has suffered a few injuries along the way and was expected to use a 6th year anyways — but we will have to wait to hear the official word on that particular news.