Fully healed, Cooper Flanagan aims to reclaim his dominance at tight end, fueled by confidence and a potent Irish offense ready to shine.
The tight end position at Notre Dame is relatively open and an unknown heading into the 2026 offseason, which is an interesting spot for the program coined at 'Tight End U'. The talent in the room isn't a question, but the who their premier player, or players, will be is currently up for debate. One of the returning players, and one of the oldest in the room, is tight end Cooper Flanagan who will be heading into his redshirt junior season with the Irish.
Last season, the 6-6, 250-pound tight end sat the entire year due to an achilles injury he suffered during the first round of the College Football Playoffs against Indiana. Flanagan missed the remainder of the post season and the entire 2025 season. Now, back fully healthy, Flanagan is ready for a big fall in 2026.
"I feel great," Flanagan said. "I had a lot of hard work in the offseason to get myself where I am. It's been a year and three months since surgery, so I feel 100%. I feel great. There's definitely a lot more work to go, a lot more progress to be had, but I feel great. I'm just happy to be out here."
The California native is walking into an offense that returns a trio of veteran offensive lineman, a host of talented receivers and a returning starting quarterback in CJ Carr. Notre Dame also has their offensive coordinator, Mike Denbrock, returning for his third year to command the offense. Flanagan is extremely confident in the outlook of Notre Dame's offense so far this spring.
"I think it's great," Flanagan explained. "Our defense is also coming along; CJ is leading the offense. Our offensive line is always going to be our offensive line, they're dominant. They're a fun group to be around. They love each other; we all love each other. The wide receivers are a great group. I think it's all coming together. I think we all realize that we have a great team."
The physical tools have always been there for Flanagan to be a dominant tight end at Notre Dame. His career production won't blow anyone away, but his reception to touchdown ratio is off the charts. The 6-6, 250-pound tight end has five career catches but three of them have gone for touchdowns. Now, the California native looks to bring the mental side of his game around to matchup his physical talent.
"I think just a big part of it is getting my confidence back," Flanagan said when asked what he needs to do to earn a starting role. "Being able to come out here, play football like I've done my whole life, get my confidence back and be able to know that I can do everything that they ask me to do so I can dominate."
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