Kaczenski Defined by the Size of His Heart
By Joe Villinski
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| Rick Kaczenski has become Notre Dame's most consistent offensive lineman. |
Notre Dame center Rick Kaczenski doesn't think about it.
Doesn't think about his size. Doesn't think about the guys 50
pounds heavier lining up against him in the trenches. After 17
consecutive starts on the offensive line, those bigger guys tend
to run together.
No matter that the Irish senior is 6-4, 255 pounds. The only
thing that matters to Kaczenski is getting in someone's way. No
matter what it takes.
"He's (Kaczenski) got to do anything he can and that's how
he plays," offensive coordinator Dave Roberts said. "He's got to
grab you by the top of the shoes and bite you on the ankle.
Right now, he's not the biggest guy in the world, but he's got
so much guts."
Enough guts that these size differences make no
difference to him.
"I try not to even think about it," Kaczenski said. "I just
go out there and play. Once your on the field, it doesn't
matter. Weight, height, speed. It all doesn't matter. You've
just got to go full blown."
That type of attitude quickly earned the respect of his
teammates when he entered the starting lineup last year. With
Kaczenski starting the final 11 games of 1995, the Irish
finished sixth in rushing among NCAA squads, averaging 233.5
yards. His quickness and tenacity made him a favorite of the
coaches.
"Rick's not the biggest guy, but he is the toughest,"
Roberts added. "There's no question about his athleticism or his
heart. "He's a warrior. He looks up and sees all these bigger
guys and you wonder how he does it. But sometimes the bigger
guys don't have the heart that Rick Kaczenski does."
Like so many underclassmen, Kaczenski toiled in practice for
the first two years, wondering if he would ever receive the
minutes he desired. With future NFL players in front of him like
Tim Ruddy and Dusty Zeigler, question marks filled Kaczenski's
head.
"You always wonder if you're ever going to play," he remembered.
"I never thought I would be big enough or good enough to play."
Once the starting job opened up, however, Kaczenski's confidence
soared.
"I think with the respect of his teammates and his work ethic,
all of a sudden he found out he's a football player," Roberts
said. "He started playing and quickly became a leader, and I
think people look up to him or look down to him. You know some
of the linemen look down to him."
Nevertheless, Kaczenski realizes that he cannot merely show up
and start every week. It is this attitude which has endeared him
to coaches and players alike.
"You can't be happy with just starting," Kaczenski said. "If
you don't perform well and improve every week, starting is
meaningless."
Under the tutelage of offensive line coach Joe Moore,
Kaczenski has refined his skills and learned how to neutralize
the advantage larger linemen possess. By constantly staying low
in blocking, Kaczenski became higher on the depth chart.
"I listen to what coach Moore teaches," he said. "You can
weigh 200 pounds and if you do what coach Moore teaches, you're
going to block people."
Kaczenski has displayed the guts coaches
respect not only on the field but off it. Following an
uninspired performance against Air Force where the Irish rushed
for only 67 yards, the lowest in the Lou Holtz era, the middle
man in the line put himself in the middle of the blame.
"We embarrassed ourselves against Air Force," Kaczenski said.
"Personally, you've got to look at yourself. I look at myself and
I'm not very happy with my performance."
The offensive line, once a solid unit in the preseason, has
now become a question mark. The loss of sophomore guard Mike
Rosenthal to a broken ankle only makes matters worse. Two out of
the past three weeks, the Irish have been dominated on the line
of scrimmage. Dismal rushing performances against Ohio State and
Air Force have stalled the offense. While the offensive line
cannot be singled out as the major problem, Kaczenski does
anyway.
"We (offensive line) deserve the blame," he added. "If we
don't play, the team is not going to win."
There is often a tendency to not credit the offensive line
during the good times, but criticize that same unit when
problems arise. Kaczenski does not concern himself with this
seeming contradiction.
"Football is a team game," he said. "If
we do well, we're not worried about us. We're worried about the
team. We don't care if our names are in the papers."
The reason Kaczenski's name might appear in print can be
attributed to his honesty. Rather than skirt an issue, the
native of Erie, Penn. addresses it.
Outside the locker room following the Ohio State game,
Kaczenski flat out said the Irish did not play Notre Dame
football. When asked about the surprising Buckeye blitzing,
Kaczenski responded that this is a Division I program and it
should be able to handle anything thrown its way.
His ideas regarding the loss to Air Force were no different.
"We're just trying to wipe the embarrassment off right now,"
Kaczenski said. "We're an embarrassed offensive line. I'm
embarrassed personally.
"We're trying to practice so that doesn't
happen again. We've got to come out intense and go live every
play. We can't afford to take a play off."
The conviction in his answers display the leadership
Kaczenski has assumed since he was named a starter a season ago.
Initially, it appeared Kaczenski would spend the year in a
back-up role, but an injury to Jeremy Akers forced Duty Zeigler
to the guard spot and thrusted Kaczenski into the spotlight.
His first start was the culmination of working at the center
position for two years. Originally, Kaczenski was recruited out
of high school as a tight end, but he had to adjust to being in the
middle of things.
"The center position is so important," Roberts
said. "It's so complicated with every blocking call. You've got
to be intelligent and be able to recognize things. It takes a
very special person to be able to do what we have to do."
Despite a rocky start, Kaczenski soon proved to be an
invaluable commodity on the line.
"Rick went in there and kind of gelled the whole offensive
line as far as effort and attitude," Roberts said. "That's what
he's going to have to do the next five weeks of the season. He's
one of the leaders, if not the leader. We can't afford to have a
good game and then a bad one. We've got to start getting some
consistency."
As with everything else, Kaczenski puts himself in the
middle of that challenge too.
"For the rest of the season, I'm just going to try and get
consistent," Kaczenski said.
