{"id":435735,"date":"2026-09-14T17:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T17:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/435735\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T17:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T17:04:12","slug":"nd-on-si-exclusive-notre-dame-legend-zack-martin-talks-o-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/435735\/","title":{"rendered":"ND on SI Exclusive: Notre Dame Legend Zack Martin Talks O-Line"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">When it comes to developing standout offensive linemen, few college football programs can compete with what Notre Dame has done.<\/p>\n<p>And when it comes to all-time great Notre Dame offensive linemen, few of those can even dream about competing with the resume of Zack Martin.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6d\">Martin starred for the Fighting Irish from 2010 to 2013 after redshirting as a true freshman in 2009.  He helped lead the team to an unlikely 12-0 regular season in 2012 and was named MVP of the Pinstripe Bowl in 2013 after helping Notre Dame beat Rutgers.<\/p>\n<p>He then became a first-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys, where he was among the league&#8217;s best offensive guards upon arrival.  He was a seven-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler during his 11-year career and will have a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame before long.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">I had the pleasure to talk to Martin recently on behalf of Icy Hot, who he&#8217;s teaming up with this fall, in hopes of keeping Notre Dame fans feeling right after the slew of pushups they plan on doing all season.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Irish Nation, you know what happens when we find the end zone \ud83d\udcaa Tag <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/icyhot?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@icyhot<\/a> in your push up training for a chance to win surprises all season long<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/GoIrish?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#GoIrish<\/a>\u2618\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qvIowv7fpZ\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/qvIowv7fpZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FightingIrish\/status\/2097706610592227693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">September 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">After putting up a combined 93 points through two weeks, the pushups are set to be coming in loads the next few months in South Bend.  <\/p>\n<p>Zack Martin on Notre Dame&#8217;s Offensive Line in 2026<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"72\">&#8220;This group has great potential and a great coach in Joe (Rudolph),&#8221; Martin said.  &#8220;I was able to spend time with them in the summer and the group has the feel and unity that we had with some of ours under Harry (Hiestand).&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The gel-time is real though,&#8221; added Martin.  &#8220;I don&#8217;t care how good you are alone, the offensive line is the only position group where you have five guys working to function as one.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Like it or not, it takes reps and time together to understand the workflow between one another &#8211; I&#8217;ll be very curious to see how this group looks a month or so into the season.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Zack Martin&#8217;s All-Time Notre Dame Offensive Line<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">With Martin being a major part in why Notre Dame is viewed as &#8220;O Line U&#8221;, I had to ask him to make his all-time Notre Dame starting offensive line.  His only obligation was that he got to make from the Harry Hiestand era on (2012 to current).<\/p>\n<p>Zack&#8217;s Picks:<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7m\">Left Tackle:  Ronnie Stanley<br \/>Left Guard:  Quenton Nelson<br \/>Center:  Nick Martin<br \/>Right Guard:  Zack Martin<br \/>Right Tackle:  Mike McGlinchey<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7r\">Boy, you can put that group up against any of the last 15 years in college football and be in great shape.  Four first-round picks and a third-rounder.<\/p>\n<p>The only one I debated was not having Joe Alt, but can you really get upset about going with Ronnie Stanley, who helped Josh Adams become a Heisman Trophy contender at Notre Dame, and became a top-10 pick to the Baltimore Ravens?<\/p>\n<p>Zack Martin on National Appeal of Notre Dame and Dallas Cowboys<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"81\">Few teams in any sport have the same mass appeal as Notre Dame football or the Dallas Cowboys, the two teams Martin starred for.<\/p>\n<p>With that comes a lot of dislike by opposing fans, simply for being popular.  So which of those two teams did Martin feel is disliked more nationally?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8c\">&#8220;That&#8217;s tough because both clearly are and there are a lot of similarities, but maybe because I&#8217;ve dealt with it more recently, but I have to go with the Cowboys.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8h\">Martin was back in South Bend this past weekend with his family and some old teammates.  He plans to be back again for the showdown with Miami on November 7.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully the party is so great in Notre Dame Stadium that night that Martin and a few of those former teammates can get in on the push-up celebration.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:pointerenter=\"q-BbZK0jV5.js#s_1NOcOpHWmT0\" on:touchstart=\"q-Cd4E7CfV.js#s_R8AiGTDeM28\" on:focus=\"q-B8B4goP5.js#s_gxiTM6qMMu8\" on:click=\"q-DCvrJiMh.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"8n\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When it comes to developing standout offensive linemen, few college football programs can compete with what Notre Dame&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-435735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}