How James Rendell landed at Notre Dame from Australia

The Irish had a need at punter. Special teams coordinator Marty Biagi found help down under in the form of a 6-foot-6, 225-pound, 23-year-old who is chasing a dream in honor of his family.

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If you had Googled “James Rendell” before Wednesday, you likely learned more about his father than about James himself.

Matt Rendell was a legendary Australian rules footballer who later got into coaching and broadcasting. Known for his big personality, Rendell left an impression on everyone he came across, from teammates to coaches to fellow commentators, a fact that comes through so clearly in a Fox Footy segment from last summer.

James voluntarily joined that tribute, which celebrated the life of Matt Rendell after he died on June 28, 2023 from cardiac arrest at the age of 64. In the nearly year that had passed since his father’s death, James had grown more and more restless with his Australian Football League pursuit, eventually dedicating his focus to punting full-time.

That shift in gears led to an unlikely public marriage on May 1 as Rendell committed to Notre Dame, a place that recently found itself with an unexpected void at punter and turned to an unexpected place — nearly 10,000 miles away — to fill that need.

“It’s a shame he’s not gonna be able to be physically here to see it, but at the same time I feel like he’s coming with me on this journey,” Rendell told The Inside Zone of his father. “It was something I always wanted to pursue, but it wasn’t really until he passed away that I realized I needed to pursue.

“It gives you that perspective that life is short and you need to take risks and chase your dreams.”