SOUTH BEND — Australian punter James Rendell won’t be a unique contributor to Notre Dame football after all.
According to special teams coordinator Marty BiagiNotre Dame recently received good news from the NCAA regarding Rendell’s petition for additional eligibility. Rendell, 24, can now play at the college level until 2025.
“He’s got at least a year left,” Biagi said Monday night after practice. “We have received a response and know we have at least one. We will continue to work on it.
A former Australian rules football player who trained with Prokick Australia, the pipeline to American football for so many from Down Under, Rendell might have arrived sooner if not for the tragic loss of his father, Matt, who died of heart disease in June 2023.
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Notre Dame never punted against Army on Saturday at Yankee Stadium, but Rendell was the special teams player in the previous week’s game against Virginia after punting five times for a 45.6-yard net.
At 6-foot-6, 224 pounds, he corralled a career-long 58-yard punt on Senior Day and dropped four punts inside the Cavaliers’ 20.
Leonie Rendell, his mother, was at both games.
“His mother came from Australia,” Biagi said. “She at least got to see the Virginia game. It was exciting for her to see her very first soccer games, so that was special.
In early August, Rendell cited “precedent” for a successful petition and said Notre Dame officials were confident his eligibility application would be approved. Rendell, who described himself as a “graduate freshman,” cited COVID-related travel restrictions and “personal hardship” due to the death of his father among key factors in his petition to the NCAA .
Rendell is pursuing a master’s degree in non-profit management, having previously completed a bachelor’s degree in business management from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Rendell is the third primary punter in as many seasons for Irish coach Marcus Freeman, following Harvard graduate transfer Jon Sot (2022) and Bryce McFerson (2023), who transferred to Maryland after entering the portal to the end of spring training.
McFerson is tied for 17th in the FBS (minimum 20 attempts) with a net average of 42.0 yards. Rendell is tied for 65th at 39.5 net yards.
Rendell is tied for 46th in average hang time (3.88 seconds) and dropped 17 punts inside the opposing 20-yard line with zero touchbacks.
“James is a guy who has so much talent,” Freeman said in mid-September after Rendell struggled through three games. “He can do so much with football. I know he can cross the field, he can spiral punts, he can punt end to end. We have to name the things he could do in the match.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article was originally published on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football punter James Rendell wins NCAA eligibility appeal
