By John Brice
Special Contributor
The baby photos do not lie, nor does the family history.
See, Matt Salerno isn’t just living out a college dream in which he goes from anonymous walk-on at prestigious Notre Dame, an institution already fabled for the roles of walk-on players through decades of rich history, to carve a role.
Salerno is completing something of a family arc now 70-some years in its course.
“My grandfather came here in like the 1950s, maybe, to play football,” says Salerno, “but he was only here for like a semester. So ever since then, we’ve all been Notre Dame fans. That’s like the only team we watched growing up.
“So to come here and kind of finish what he started, my little brother (Chris) is on the team as well, is to live out a dream. It’s a huge deal for our family.”
The final chapter of Matt Salerno’s Notre Dame dream is poised to carry its most extensive script.
Months after earning a scholarship following four years of toiling through offensive coordinator and head-coaching changes that especially mean no guarantees for a walk-on, Salerno keeps ascending the Fighting Irish’s wide receiver depth chart.
Certainly, defections and injuries – most recently the gutting news that sixth-year captain Avery Davis is losing the entire 2022 campaign due to another ACL tear – are factors in Salerno’s climb, but so, too, is his innate resilience.
“Maximizing who you are and what you have,” first-year Notre Dame wideouts coach Chansi Stuckey, who played the position in college at Clemson and in the NFL, says of Salerno. “It will be good for a guy like (freshman) Tobias (Merriweather) to see that. To see, ‘Hey man, this is not about talent.’
“At Notre Dame, rely on your talent? No, Notre Dame is not the place for that. You want to maximize whatever your superpower is, whether you’re super-smart, super-fast or super-tall. Whatever you have, maximize that. We talked a little bit about the parable of the talents and what God did with the one He gave the most, he flipped it and made more, the one He gave five and he flipped it to 10 and then one who just buried it. Who do you want to be? Are you going to maximize what you have and use it, because God will multiply it if you use it? It kind of resonated to the guys, like, ‘Oh, I’ve never heard it put that way.’ Matt is the epitome of that.”
Do not, however, assume that Salerno, already with 23 career appearances and many of them as the Irish’s starting punt returner, is talent-less.
Amongst a position group bereft of depth, Salerno is shining against all comers. Quite simply, Notre Dame does not have enough bodies at wide receiver to have the veteran Salerno working only with or against peers further down their respective depth charts.
Listen to Braden Lenzy, also a graduate-student and a guy known to vaporize defenders.
“Matt’s a dog,” says Lenzy. “He, for years, has been cooking the defense. I’m just really excited to see him not just as a punt returner or whatever it may be but really making plays for us.
“You ask anyone in the building, he’s been giving the business for two, three years. He’s just elevated his game even more, and I have nothing but respect for him.”
Though Salerno makes plays – and they were numerous in a recent team scrimmage setting – he likewise never fails to show up to get in that work.
“He doesn’t miss practice, he works hard every single day, he doesn’t complain and he’s willing to do the dirty jobs that a lot of big-time recruits and stars or whatnot don’t necessarily want to do,” says Lenzy. “He’s making more plays than some of these stars, and he’s willing to do that work. In a lot of ways, it’s a refreshing take on the receiver position especially in modern football.”
Adds Stuckey, “I mean he’s not going to beat anybody deep or break a bunch of tackles and run 70 yards but he just methodically gives you what you need, every time. He makes the catch required, supposed to do this, block this guy, Matt’s going to be in there; Mr. Dependable.
“You want guys you can depend on. You have guys that are high-risk, high-reward. When you have guys you know you can depend on, I’m going to give this guy more reps than the super-high risk guy. He might have 10 plays, and I’m going to give Matt 30. He’s definitely going to be in the mix. He’s a hard worker, super-smart, loves to take coaching. He’s great to have in the room.”
Salerno is head-down, back to work and taking it all in stride.
Which, actually, is throwback to Salerno learning earlier this year from coach Marcus Freeman of his impending scholarship status, striding across campus between classes and phoning his parents.
Only, initially, Mom missed the call.
“I was running between classes, just called them up and said, ‘Real quick, I’ve got to run to class but here’s what happened,’” Salerno recalls. “It was a good conversation.
“I actually couldn’t get ahold of my mom (Whitney) at first, so I called my dad (Mike) and he didn’t tell her until I was able to call her later in the day. Both were just very excited, I think my mom probably cried. Just happy.”
In a few weeks, Salerno’s parents will return to see their sons in uniform inside Notre Dame Stadium – some 13 years after first igniting Matt’s desire to suit up for the Irish with a trip to South Bend, Indiana, from their Valencia, California, home in 2009.
“We came out to watch a game, and Golden Tate was my favorite player,” Salerno says. “I had drawn him a picture and mailed it to him, and I guess he put it up in his locker.
“After the game I was looking for him and everyone was bombarding him, and he was running away, but he came back for one last autograph and signed my jersey.
“That was a pretty incredible moment for me as a kid.”
Another waypoint on the Salerno family journey with Notre Dame, one with its most compelling chapter still to be written.