Blake Fisher Is Focused On Building A Dominant Game With A New Look Body
There’s a leaner and meaner version of Blake Fisher on the football field this spring. The Notre Dame right tackle has dropped around 40 pounds since his arrival on campus as an early enrollee two years ago. Now in his third spring, Fisher checks in at 310 pounds as he heads toward his third consecutive season as a starter on the Irish offensive line.
"It was about getting my body right, eating the right things and just moving better,” Fisher said of his transformation. "I feel I still had some baby fat on me and now, this offseason, I feel I got a lot of that off me. I'm getting bigger from here. It's getting bigger, stronger and faster.”
The leaner physique has been apparent watching Fisher this spring. His step looks quicker on the right side of the Irish offensive line when working against rushers off the edge.
"I feel a little bit more agile,” Fisher estimated. "Moving around more, I feel I'm more elusive and get off quicker and move around. I just feel better, I'm not gassed. I can just go and go at 100 miles per hour all the time. I feel that's what I need for my game to be dominant."
The transformation came easier for Fisher than maybe he would have thought. A steady dose of workouts from Director of Football Performance Matt Balis and smaller doses of fast food (a self-proclaimed vice) have done the trick.
"You gotta chill,” Fisher said of cutting back on late night burgers and other tempting but calorie dense vices. "Getting with our nutritionist and slowing it down and putting the right things in your body for the muscles to recover and for the muscles to gain to get bigger and stronger."
Fisher is playing with better bend in the hips and knees and with more flexibility thanks to the drop on the scale, but his strength has not suffered as a result.
"I actually feel stronger than I did last year,” Fisher said. "We still have the summer to go, so my biggest thing is being as dominant as I can. Run blocking is something we have a standard about here and that's blowing people off the ball. That's something I love doing. Continuing to get stronger and stronger to make that easier on myself and getting the backs through there because we want our backs to have a great year."
New offensive line coach Joe Rudolph is the third position coach in as many seasons for Fisher and the other upperclassmen on the line. They went from Jeff Quinn two years ago to one season of Harry Hiestand to Rudolph this spring. Rudolph has brought his own methodology to the table in his first spring with the Fighting Irish line and that’s just fine with Fisher.
"I think every offensive line coach has different techniques and different ways to approach their coaching,” Fisher stated. "I think Coach Hiestand and Coach Rudolph are two really good guys. I think they're the best at what they do. They know what they're talking about. A lot of similarities there. Their differences aren't too far apart.
"I feel like everything is for the best,” he continued. "It's helped us tremendously. I think the transition has been easy as well going from Coach Hiestand to Coach Rudolph."
If all goes according to plan, the new look Fisher will emerge as one of the nation's best tackles in the fall.
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