By John Brice
Special Contributor
His hands told the story.
Joined by a cadre of teammates from both sides of the ball, Tobias Merriweather put in work atop work as soon as he returned to Notre Dame’s campus earlier this year from winter break.
He wasn’t waiting for formal offseason conditioning to begin, nor was Merriweather assuming he’d be handed any certain role as a returning playmaker among the Fighting Irish wide receiver corps.
Merriweather put in so much extra work through offseason and carrying it into and to the end of spring football practice that his hands spoke without Merriweather having to say much at all.
They were covered in callouses – thickened, hardened skin on his palms from catching hundreds of footballs that eventually numbered in the thousands, be it from automated machines or the arm of graduate-transfer quarterback Sam Hartman, whom Merriweather discovered never meant just one more throw whenever Hartman asked for just one more throw.
“On the field, just getting as many catches in as I can on the Jugs machine,” said the 6-foot-4, 205-pound sophomore vertical threat from West Camas, Washington. “Me and Holden (Staes), B-Mo (Benjamin Morrison), Gi’Bran (Payne) always come out here and get as many catches as we can. Basically, like five or six days a week. Trying for no drops. Then coming back and doing some field-work, footwork and getting in and out of breaks.
“We would get on the Jugs and take turns and do 50 in a row. Trying for no drops. Then get in like 250-300 every day for each guy. They were pretty substantial callouses, but I peeled them all off.”
In Hartman, Merriweather found someone who despite years of success at the college level remained just as dedicated to the craft.
“We come in here and throw and Sam, he’s one of those guys that says, ‘One more, one more!,” Merriweather said, “and that means five or six more. I love that about him.”
A year ago, there was little time for Chansi Stuckey to love anything about the Irish wideouts; he simply had to piece-mill rotations to help get Notre Dame through the season after Stuckey inherited a room wholly devoid of depth.
Now, however, Notre Dame’s roster revolution, spearheaded by Stuckey and the relentless recruiting example set first by head coach Marcus Freeman, is perhaps best embodied by the Irish pass-catchers.
Merriweather, Jayden Thomas, Deion Colzie and Matt Salerno return after all having meaningful moments a year ago; Chris Tyree, a former starting running back, now deploys his game-breaking speed and team-best acceleration from the slot.
The additions of several well-regarded 2023 signees, notably Jaden Greathouse and Rico Flores among them, adds levels to what Stuckey can seek to get from the group’s various deployments on the field.
“It’s great, because you look at our first, second and third groups,” Stuckey said. “You’ve got players in every group. OK, first group’s out, there’s dudes. Second group, dudes. Third group, you got the freshmen and they’re dudes. So that’s fun to watch that. Guys are getting reps. These threes probably need reps with the twos and that’s the competition you want. Guys know they have to bring it every day.
“You pray you keep guys healthy, that guys buy in, don’t get upset about the lot they’re given right now; just be patient. We’re in a society right now where, ‘Hey, I’m not getting it right now.’ And sometimes it’s not the kid. It’s outside influences that are asking why aren’t you getting this or why aren’t you doing that. It’s just having brutally honest conversations with my guys. So that they know where they stand and what’s to be expected.”
Merriweather, for one, has leaned into the competition and the grind.
“I think it’s nice to have the depth, especially for practice when we’re going reps on reps,” he said. “Last year without (Avery Davis), it was kind of tough not having that guy in the slot. With CT (Tyree) that’s a nice addition. I think that’s a more well-rounded group.”
It’s one that gets a consistent message from Stuckey – and a pathway for improvement with spring camp in the rearview mirror.
“As we go on, sometimes you think, and it’s part of my job, ‘Are they naturally doing extra work, or do I kind of have to show them the standard?’,” said Stuckey, who turned a star role at Clemson into an NFL stint before he shifted into the coaching ranks. “As we went through (saying), ‘OK, guys, it takes a little bit more to be great.’”
Stuckey doesn’t even ask a half-hour from his charges; he can illustrate their growth-path if they’ll commit to 15-minute intervals.
“I broke it down for them, you don’t have to do everything in one day,” said Stuckey, who trains in South Bend with a professional doing the same explosive-body drills he demands of his players. “You just have to string days together, whether it’s 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there, and then if you do that four days straight, that’s an extra hour of work. In a month, that’s great time and then over three months, bam. You have to look at it from a macro standpoint instead of micro and that’s how guys get better. I think they’ve started to see the improvements.
“I told them (as spring camp concluded), now the standard has been set. You can’t go below it. This is just the beginning. We don’t need to be at our best right now, but we need to continually improve. So now you know, taking the ownership of what we have to do, going into the summer. The summer is going to be huge of what you have to do. You have to get better. So when fall comes, now we’re rocking and rolling.
“You should be better in two months; if you’re the same, that’s a shame. Because that’s just ownership on your career and who you want to be. If you want to get better, you keep pushing the envelope and try to get better this summer. That’s the message.”