Cole Kmet ’17 Draws on High School Years in Stepping Up as Long Snapper

Fr. Dan Hall, C.S.V., coached football and wrestling at Saint Viator on and off for nearly 20 years, starting in 1978 when he was Br. Hall. He keeps up with many of his former players and wrestlers, but recently, one made headlines, Cole Kmet ’17.

Kmet was named the NFL Special Teams Player of the Week. He is believed to be the first long snapper to win the award. According to Bears media sources, Kmet takes a few reps as long snapper at every practice, as an emergency backup.

On Sunday, when the primary long snapper, Scott Daly, left the game in the first quarter, Kmet got the call -- and he answered it. He successfully snapped the ball in four points after kicks by Carlos Santos and another for a field goal, though the kick was blocked.

Fr. Hall was watching, even while he was in Las Vegas celebrating the 70th anniversary of Viatorians serving in Southern Nevada. While the broadcasters kept commenting on how unusual it was for Kmet to fill in as long snapper, Fr. Hall remembered having him take practice reps as long snapper when he played for the Lions. Consequently, he was not surprised. 

“He was not our primary snapper,” says Fr. Hall, who coached special teams, “but when push came to shove, we knew he was available.”

Fr. Hall also coached defensive ends, one of whom was Kmet. It turns out he played both sides of the ball and even at times as quarterback when the offense went into a wildcat formation.

"I would typically put him in wildcat in short yardage or goal line situations, with a heavy backfield of blockers because he was so difficult to stop," Head Coach Dave Archibald says. "He had a touchdown in this formation in our 1st round playoff win at Boylan Catholic in 2016."

 Archibald adds that while Kmet was such a versatile player for the Lions, and he did take reps as the long snapper at practice, he tried not to put him in. When the special team came in, Archibald said, it was the one time he could get Kmet off the field for a rest.

"I can't say that Cole surprises me with what he does on the field. Certainly, he had to put in the work at Notre Dame and continue to progress in the game, but the potential of an NFL path was something I saw when he was in high school," Archibald says. "With the long snapping, as a backup in the NFL, he is still getting reps at practice to keep him ready if called upon, and he has the size, coordination, toughness, and work ethic to do whatever he is asked to do for the team, and to do it well."