Tight end Tyler Eifert is from Fort Wayne and Bishop Dwenger, the same high school as current Notre Dame wide receiver John Goodman. The 6-foot-6 Eifert is probably going to begin his career as a tight end, but also presents an intriguing option at safety, another place he excelled in high school.
Below are excerpts of an interview between Insights and Eifert before he left for Notre Dame that also resulted in a story in The Journal Gazette last week.
Irish Insights: What has been your mindset been the past few weeks?
Tyler Eifert: "Um, just do as much as I can to get ready. Just try to get in the best shape I can and get as strong as I can for when I get there."
II: When you committed, is that something the coaches put on you, that you needed to do?
TE: "It's pretty much a given to play at the next level, that it's not going to be the same as high school and you have to put yourself on another level if you want to compete with the caliber of athletes that are in a Division I sports so that's what I feel I have to do to compete."
II: Is this maybe the best shape you've been in?
TE: "Um, yeah, probably pretty close. I know last year, right before football, I was in pretty good shape. Right now I think I'm stronger than I've been and I think I'm in pretty good running shape."
II: Is there one thing you're excited about, taking football out of it, for college in general?
TE: "Um, I mean, I don't know. It's going to be a lot of work. The school part is definitely not going to be fun. What I'm looking forward to is probably just the first game, experience running out of the tunnel and actually being a part of it."
II: At what point did it actually hit you that you're leaving for college soon?
TE: "About a (month) ago, I thought it would just be two months away forever, but it came up quick and here I am now, leaving in a week."
II: What concerns you the most with going away?
TE: "Nothing really concerns me about leaving home or anything. I'll just have to adapt. Life has been really easy up till now and I know I'm going to be on my own basically once I get there. I'll just have to be expecting to work a lot more and do a lot more for myself, too."
II: Have you learned to do laundry?
TE: "I've done my laundry a couple times. I know how to do it, I think. I know how to make macaroni and cheese. I guess that's basically all I know but that's all I need to know, I guess."
II: How have your parents been with all of it?
TE: "Pretty good, actually. They know I'm pretty close to home so it's not like they'll never see me again. When I leave in the summer I'll be home almost every weekend. It hasn't been too bad."
