Notre Dame is bringing back its “Cleats for a cause” initiative, which will support five organizations that contribute to the South Bend community.

The organizations include South Bend Center for the Homeless, the Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Indiana Corridor, the Casie Center (Child Abuse Services Investigation & Education), Cultivate Food Rescue and the Logan Center. Eleven players’ cleats will be put up for auction, and the proceeds will be distributed equally among the charities, according to a team press release.

“Our team is passionate about this initiative, and throughout the offseason and years prior, we have built deep relationships with these charities,” graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser, the initiative’s player committee chairman, said via the press release. “After the success of Cleats For a Cause in 2022, it means a lot to us to use our platform to bring awareness and financial support to these organizations doing important work in the community.”

Each Irish player will wear custom sneakers on the walk from pregame mass at the Basilica to Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday before taking on Miami (Ohio), and they’ll wear custom cleats during the game. Jerry Barca, a current Notre Dame freshman, painted each pair of shoes and cleats.

The Irish provided a sneak peek at the designs here.

Notre Dame tweets of the day

How Boubacar Traore‘s pick six sounded on radio:

More from Kiser:

You have to hand it to Pat Coogan, who is now Notre Dame’s starting center.

Quote of the day

“I think KK is an up-and-coming talent that we’ve got to utilize. I think he can stretch the field. I think he can break people down. He reminds me of a young man who played here a few years ago that ended up with the Texans.

“I don’t know if he’s quite got the speed, but when he runs, the fluidity that he runs with. And it doesn’t look like he’s running really fast, but he kind of is. He reminds me a lot of Will, and so I hope he continues to develop the way Will did. And we’ve got us something pretty good going on there.” 

— Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, comparing sophomore wide receiver KK Smith to Will Fuller

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