Three things I like about Notre Dame Wide Receiver #2 Will Pauling

It’s a journey

The Notre Dame football roster is full of great players — known and unknown. No matter the place on the depth chart or the recruiting ranking a player had attached to him before his arrival at Notre Dame — there are probably some things I really like about him. So over the course of the next few months, let’s take a positive approach to running down the roster.

Almost daily (just being honest) I’ll list three things I like about a single player on the roster, and as an additional bonus, I’ll post some extra pics over on the OFD Instagram account (be sure to follow RIGHT HERE).

Next up…

#2 Will Pauling — Wide Receiver

The 5’10” 192 pound senior wide receiver from Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Chicago, Illinois, has made quite the journey to Notre Dame. As a 3-Star prospect, Pauling committed to the Cincinnati Bearcats in 2021, transferred to the Wisconsin Badgers in 2023 — and now a transfer to the Irish.

Here are three things I like about Will Pauling:

1. Loyalty.

It’s not a word commonly used with someone who has two transfers under his belt — but maybe that makes him the MOST loyal? Gino Guidugli recruited Pauling to Cincinnati and when Guidugli left Cincy for Wisconsin with Luke Fickell — Pauling followed him to Madison. Mike Brown coached Guidugli while at Wisconsin — and now Pauling is back with both Brown and Guidugli at Notre Dame. That’s like Hobbit loyal.

2. Production.

Being a good dude is one thing — but can you play? In Pauling’s two seasons with the Badgers, he caught 116 passes for 1244 yards and 9 touchdowns. While those aren’t crazy numbers, it’s quality production at a Big 10 school facing Big 10 defenses.

@goose52._

Will Pauling – Wisconsin Receiver #fypシ゚viral #football #sports #collegefootball #cfb

♬ original sound – Goose – Goose

3. Making it BEEFY.

While there is reason to believe that the Irish have some good talent on hand at WR, there really is no downside of packing a position group full of as much talent as possible. Will Pauling has the ability top make a lot of plays for the Irish in 2025, which is something I really like.