Steve Elmer has known he’d be attending Notre Dame for more than a year and he’s known he’d be enrolling early for several months. Now it’s only a couple weeks away.
“It’s pretty surreal,” the 2013 offensive lineman from Midland, Mich., said.
“It hasn’t really set in yet or maybe I’ve been so used to the idea, but it doesn’t seem so weird.”
With the Christmas break here, the 6-foot-6, 300-pounder feels like he's having as natural of a progression from high school to college as possible for an early enrollee.
“It’s kind of an easy way to let me go because it’s not like I’m leaving randomly,” he said. “Everyone is on Christmas break right now, it’s just that I’m not going to be coming back.”
Elmer will undoubtedly miss his friends at Midland High School, but is looking forward to making new ones in South Bend.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “There are going to be tons of new people to meet, tons of new challenges to meet too. It’s going to be crazy. Hopefully we’ll be coming off a national championship win, so that’ll be even more exciting if it’s possible.”
Elmer believed the pros of getting to Notre Dame in January outweighed the cons of waiting until June.
“I think it was just getting a jump on school and getting adjusted before the insanity of the fall hits,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing for me.
“I love the fact that we get to spend more time with the coaches and get a headstart on my work with them, but really the biggest part of adjusting to college life – in my opinion – I’ll be able to do that in a more relaxed setting and that’s what made a difference to me.”
But before enrolling at Notre Dame on the second Monday of January, Elmer will make a trip to San Antonio for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Elmer will be one of seven current Irish commits playing in the game.
“I just think it’s going to be a great opportunity to see where you stand with the rest of the best players in the country. I think it’s going to be a fun trip to go on.”
