After four years of mostly sporadic playing time for Notre Dame, offensive lineman Colin Grunhard chose to move on. He entered the transfer portal and quickly chose to go back home and play at Kansas. Going from a national championship contender to a team that went 0-9 in 2020 can be daunting, even if you’re closer to familiar surroundings. However, Grunhard recently decided to compare his new situation with when he first came to the Irish:
“When I was a freshman at Notre Dame, we were coming off a 4-8 season, one of the worst years in Notre Dame history. The biggest change happens in the weightroom. With [KU strength] coach Ben [Iannacchione], I’ve been experiencing that a lot. We’re working out hard. When we’re running, we’re running hard. Everything matters. The little things matter. If it’s three seconds, you hold it for three seconds.”
Obviously, Grunhard will need a lot more than his own improvement to win with a program that just dismissed Les Miles and has yet to hire his replacement. After all, you can’t just join an offensive line that allowed a nation-worst 47 sacks and 5.22 sacks a game last season and expect a quick fix. The good news for Grunhard is he has two years of eligibility remaining, so he can at least help his new unit make incremental changes. Who knows how much better it will be by the time he’s done playing in Lawrence?