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SOUTH BEND – Busy days are the best days for Notre Dame football junior Jaden Greathouse.
Noie: How did that Notre Dame football freshman defensive end come so far so fast?
When the wide receiver from Austin, Texas is up before dawn, making his way through the darkness to the Gug and then across the street to the Irish Athletic Center for spring practice, then back across campus for classes before catching his breath around 7 p.m. every night, that’s a busy day. A good day.
Noie: Is it already time for Notre Dame football to be back on the field for spring practice?
It’s when everything stops, like it did in late January after the longest season in program history (16 games) ended in the loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff national championship game, that Greathouse feels lost. Like nothing feels right.
When there was no football in January and February, Greathouse wondered, now what?
“I struggled at being a student and not doing anything,” he said. “I’m all about football. It’s in my blood. It’s what I’ve always done.”
The busier Greathouse is, on and off the field, the better. Doing work in the classroom. Doing work in the film room. In the weight room. On the practice field. The more of it he has to embrace, the more he embraces it. Plate full? More, please.
“It gets tough, but that’s what we came here to do – that's the expectation,” he said. “You have to go to class and you have football and both are going to be tough, but you’re going to become better for it.”
Greathouse is better for it. Better for pushing through much of 2024 when it seemed he wasn’t as effective and wasn’t as involved on Saturdays as maybe he should have been. Not a week passed that someone close to that program didn’t think, watch out for that No. 1, he’s due for a big game.
Except those big games and big gains, rarely came. After catching a combined eight passes the first two weeks, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Greathouse made only six the next four. He played seven games where he made only one catch. There was little that made anyone sit up and take note. Like, whoa, that guy’s good.
Then the playoffs arrived, and so did Greathouse. Click on the film of the fourth quarter against Penn State when he made defensive backs Cam Miller and Jaylen Reed look slip-on-the-floor silly on the same play, a 54-yard catch and run touchdown that gave the Irish serious they’re-going-to-win-this vibes.
After no 100-yard receiving games in his first 26 at Notre Dame, Greathouse had 105 yards and a touchdown on seven catches against Penn State before 128 yards and two scores on six catches against Ohio State to finish with 592 yards on 42 catches and four scores.
“It got to the point where anything that came his way, he was coming down with,” said receivers coach Mike Brown. “It’s a testament to who he is.”
What changed about the offense? About the game plan? About Greathouse’s role? He insists that nothing did. It was about staying patient with the plan, about preparing every day for your chance, and then when that chance comes, being ready to run with it.
He ran with it.
“It was just a long-time coming kind of thing,” Greathouse said. “We had known what I could do all year and it just happened that the last two games, I was showcased.”
That helped Greathouse take his belief to another level. Brown sees it now in the Gug pre- and post-practice. Sees it on off days. Sees it in the IAC when someone steals a rep from him so Greathouse can steal a quick break.
“He’s walking around different,” Brown said. “His confidence is really high just because of where he left off. In his mind, he’s like, ‘I know the player I can be.’”
Maybe the player he will be this season. For the first two years, Greathouse was the great unknown – a young guy in a room where old guys thrive and survive. Now he looks around that wideout room and he’s the oldest non-transfer wideout on the roster. At age 20.
Makes him feel 30.
“All the freshmen call me Unc,” Greathouse said. “Definitely encouraging to be this young but be in position to have a leadership role and the other guys are looking at me as an example.”
Look to him. Expect him to be more. To be more. To show more. Greathouse feels in a position this season to handle it. Handle all of it. For Greathouse, this spring hasn’t been about who might be the quarterback but about being the best wide receiver he can be so whoever is throwing the ball in his direction come Labor Day Sunday night in South Florida, he’s ready to make plays. Plural.
Might be for Steve Angeli. Might be for C.J. Carr. Maybe Kenny Minchey. Doesn’t matter to Greathouse.
“How can I be the best version of myself so that no matter who’s back there, I make their job as easy as possible?” he asked.
While making it hard on the defensive backs assigned to check him. Like he did against Penn State. Make them miss. Make them fall. Make them realize that No. 1 is No. 1. Here. Soon. Coast this spring given all he did to end last season? Not in Greathouse’s DNA. He wants to do more. He wants to show more. He wants to be more. Brown sees it.
“The best thing about it is he’s continuing to be hungry and learn,” Brown said. “I’m excited about his trajectory.”
Where’s all of this going for Greathouse? For the Irish? For the 2025? Nobody could say on a cold and rainy and miserable mid-week early April day, but Greathouse has an idea. A good one. About who he could be, about who he should be come August.
“A monster,” he said matter-of-factly. “Whenever you step on the field, DBs will fear me. That’s what I’m here to do.”
Time to get busy.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Is this the next football game-breaker for the Notre Dame offense in 2025?
Continue reading...
Noie: How did that Notre Dame football freshman defensive end come so far so fast?
When the wide receiver from Austin, Texas is up before dawn, making his way through the darkness to the Gug and then across the street to the Irish Athletic Center for spring practice, then back across campus for classes before catching his breath around 7 p.m. every night, that’s a busy day. A good day.
Noie: Is it already time for Notre Dame football to be back on the field for spring practice?
It’s when everything stops, like it did in late January after the longest season in program history (16 games) ended in the loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff national championship game, that Greathouse feels lost. Like nothing feels right.
When there was no football in January and February, Greathouse wondered, now what?
“I struggled at being a student and not doing anything,” he said. “I’m all about football. It’s in my blood. It’s what I’ve always done.”
The busier Greathouse is, on and off the field, the better. Doing work in the classroom. Doing work in the film room. In the weight room. On the practice field. The more of it he has to embrace, the more he embraces it. Plate full? More, please.
“It gets tough, but that’s what we came here to do – that's the expectation,” he said. “You have to go to class and you have football and both are going to be tough, but you’re going to become better for it.”
Greathouse is better for it. Better for pushing through much of 2024 when it seemed he wasn’t as effective and wasn’t as involved on Saturdays as maybe he should have been. Not a week passed that someone close to that program didn’t think, watch out for that No. 1, he’s due for a big game.
Except those big games and big gains, rarely came. After catching a combined eight passes the first two weeks, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Greathouse made only six the next four. He played seven games where he made only one catch. There was little that made anyone sit up and take note. Like, whoa, that guy’s good.
Then the playoffs arrived, and so did Greathouse. Click on the film of the fourth quarter against Penn State when he made defensive backs Cam Miller and Jaylen Reed look slip-on-the-floor silly on the same play, a 54-yard catch and run touchdown that gave the Irish serious they’re-going-to-win-this vibes.
After no 100-yard receiving games in his first 26 at Notre Dame, Greathouse had 105 yards and a touchdown on seven catches against Penn State before 128 yards and two scores on six catches against Ohio State to finish with 592 yards on 42 catches and four scores.
“It got to the point where anything that came his way, he was coming down with,” said receivers coach Mike Brown. “It’s a testament to who he is.”
What changed about the offense? About the game plan? About Greathouse’s role? He insists that nothing did. It was about staying patient with the plan, about preparing every day for your chance, and then when that chance comes, being ready to run with it.
He ran with it.
“It was just a long-time coming kind of thing,” Greathouse said. “We had known what I could do all year and it just happened that the last two games, I was showcased.”
That helped Greathouse take his belief to another level. Brown sees it now in the Gug pre- and post-practice. Sees it on off days. Sees it in the IAC when someone steals a rep from him so Greathouse can steal a quick break.
“He’s walking around different,” Brown said. “His confidence is really high just because of where he left off. In his mind, he’s like, ‘I know the player I can be.’”
Maybe the player he will be this season. For the first two years, Greathouse was the great unknown – a young guy in a room where old guys thrive and survive. Now he looks around that wideout room and he’s the oldest non-transfer wideout on the roster. At age 20.
Makes him feel 30.
“All the freshmen call me Unc,” Greathouse said. “Definitely encouraging to be this young but be in position to have a leadership role and the other guys are looking at me as an example.”
Look to him. Expect him to be more. To be more. To show more. Greathouse feels in a position this season to handle it. Handle all of it. For Greathouse, this spring hasn’t been about who might be the quarterback but about being the best wide receiver he can be so whoever is throwing the ball in his direction come Labor Day Sunday night in South Florida, he’s ready to make plays. Plural.
Might be for Steve Angeli. Might be for C.J. Carr. Maybe Kenny Minchey. Doesn’t matter to Greathouse.
“How can I be the best version of myself so that no matter who’s back there, I make their job as easy as possible?” he asked.
While making it hard on the defensive backs assigned to check him. Like he did against Penn State. Make them miss. Make them fall. Make them realize that No. 1 is No. 1. Here. Soon. Coast this spring given all he did to end last season? Not in Greathouse’s DNA. He wants to do more. He wants to show more. He wants to be more. Brown sees it.
“The best thing about it is he’s continuing to be hungry and learn,” Brown said. “I’m excited about his trajectory.”
Where’s all of this going for Greathouse? For the Irish? For the 2025? Nobody could say on a cold and rainy and miserable mid-week early April day, but Greathouse has an idea. A good one. About who he could be, about who he should be come August.
“A monster,” he said matter-of-factly. “Whenever you step on the field, DBs will fear me. That’s what I’m here to do.”
Time to get busy.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Is this the next football game-breaker for the Notre Dame offense in 2025?
Continue reading...
