SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Nick Coleman met Chris Finke when the pair were in seventh grade, and by the time they joined the Archbishop Alter football team in 2011, Finke was “like 5-foot-2, 120 (pounds)," according to the Irish sophomore cornerback.
“I’d say a late bloomer,” Coleman smiled when asked to describe what Finke was like back in high school.
But there wasn’t any doubt in Coleman’s mind that Finke, who he described as “my best friend,” would find success in high school and college.
Coleman earned a scholarship to Notre Dame as a three-star recruit out of Dayton, Ohio, while Finke joined the program as a walk-on (redshirt junior quarterback Malik Zaire was two years ahead of Coleman and Finke at Alter, too). With Shaun Crawford out for the year after suffering a torn Achilles’ against Nevada, Coleman is the next man in at cornerback and will have to handle being targeted at that position going forward.
Finke, meanwhile, earned a scholarship after just one year in the program, which is almost unheard of for an underclassman walk-on. Even linebacker Joe Schmidt needed two years to earn his scholarship, after which he went on to win team MVP honors in 2014.
Coleman, though, had a counterpoint to the quickness in which Finke received a scholarship: “I thought he should’ve got a scholarship coming into college.”
Finke, who’s now listed at 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, notched his first two college receptions in Notre Dame’s 39-10 win over Nevada. That he’s not only earned a scholarship but also found his way onto the field for a top-20 Irish side isn’t a surprise to Coleman.
"He deserves everything he gets," Coleman said. "... His sophomore years, when Malik was our quarterback, he bloomed in two-a-days. And junior and senior year, he just took off, and I knew he was going to be something special. I was so excited when he decided to come here with me and I knew he was going to get a scholarship sooner rather than later.”