Former Irish TE Cole Kmet returns to Notre Dame for degree

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Former Notre Dame football star and current Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet is finishing what he started.

According to WMAQ-TV in Chicago, Kmet is back in South Bend, where he is finishing up classes to get his college degree.

Kmet played tight end for the Fighting Irish from 2017 to 2019, but he left school after his junior season to enter the NFL Draft. The Chicagoland native was selected by his hometown Bears in the second round in 2020.

Since then, he’s been working toward finishing his degree online. Now, he’s spending the spring semester finishing that process in person. The 24-year-old is in class two days a week on Mondays and Wednesdays.

“The whole reason I wanted to come here was not only for the football aspect, but also for the academic aspect, and that was something that was really important to me, something I want to finish out, something I take a lot of pride in,” Kmet said. “Plus, I promised my mom that I would come back if I left early. So (I’m) fulfilling a promise, and fulfilling something I want to have in my bag for the rest of my life.”

Kmet is nine hours shy of his degree in political science, and he’s on track to graduate alongside his brother Casey, who plays for Notre Dame’s baseball team, in May. He’ll finish in time to join the Bears for the team’s minicamps and training camp later this year.