Golic pipeline to Notre Dame continues
SAN ANTONIO – Mike Golic grew up around Notre Dame football and his father, Mike, Sr., and uncle, Bob, played for the Fighting Irish, so when a college decision had to be made it was not all that difficult.
Mike Golic, Sr., graduated from Notre Dame in 1985 and enjoyed a nine-year NFL stint. Bob Golic was drafted in the second round of the 1979 NFL Draft. Golic, who verbally committed to Notre Dame on Feb. 19, said his family allowed him to make his own decision but the Irish always had an edge.
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"I owe a lot of my technical success to my dad," Golic said. "The best way he's been able to influence me is he let me make my own decision and at the same time he was there for me if I needed any advice.
"It was entirely my decision from the beginning of the process. He said, 'You're going to go where you want to go. It's the next four years of your life. It's not my choice. He was always very clear about that. He wanted us to go where we wanted."
Golic, who will play center in Saturday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl, took an unofficial visit to Florida and was also recruited by UConn, Maryland, Virginia and others. Rivals.com rates him as the sixth-best center nationally. The stories he heard growing up and the family tradition pulled him to the Irish early on.
"I had heard a lot of stuff from my dad when he went there and what went on then," Golic said. "I had been raised and had always been a Notre Dame fan. I had been other places but at the end it was a special place for me and had a special feel so it always felt right to me. It was good to know what I wanted early."
There is another Golic in the pipeline. Jake Golic is a 6-foot-4, 202-pound junior tight end at West Hartford (Conn.) Northwest Catholic who is already hearing from Notre Dame, Boston College, UConn, Maryland and others. He is expected to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Combine on Friday.
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