If your grandfather was a former national champion linebacker, your great-uncle was a backup quarterback and your grandmother tutored perhaps the the biggest football star to ever come from the same university, one might say that particular school is in your blood.
That’s the case for high school junior Nolan Ziegler, a 6-4, 205 pound safety with a 3.85 GPA from Catholic Central in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ziegler is a class of 2022 prospect and is the grandson of ’73 Notre Dame national champion linebacker, Tim Sullivan. He’s also the great-nephew of former backup Irish signal caller, Fred Trosko, Jr., who was a sophomore on that ’73 title squad.
Then on top of all that, Ziegler’s grandmother that married Tim Sullivan was in Notre Dame’s first female class and tutored the legendary Joe Montana.
Wednesday saw Ziegler get his own attention from Notre Dame as the three-star safety received a scholarship offer from Brian Kelly and company.
@CoachBrianKelly , @Coach_Lea , @CoachJeffQuinn , and @Coach_Lezynski Thank you for the offer to play for Our Lady. A scholarship to Notre Dame is the Holy Grail of college football. #GoIrish #ND☘️ pic.twitter.com/qAzH9MqIRr
— Nolan Ziegler (@nolanziegler42) August 5, 2020
Ziegler’s clearly got bloodline to the University of Notre Dame that few can compare to. I can understand both sides of it for the now Notre Dame target as for one, you get to carry on a family legacy of attending Notre Dame, but on the other hand, I would fully understand if he’d eventually want to go somewhere and not constantly be seen as “the guy with a ton of family members from there”.
Congratulations to Ziegler on the offer as Notre Dame joins the likes of Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska and a handful of MAC schools to have offered a scholarship.