SOUTH BEND — Bob Wolfrum, legendary football coach of the Wyomissing (Pa.) High School Spartans, has a motto that guides his approach to playing the best teams in the state every year, regardless of classification.

“If you want to be a bullfighter, you’ve got to fight the bulls.”

Ross Tucker, the CBS Sports football analyst who played for Wolfrum three decades ago, rode those words through a standout career at Princeton and all the way to five seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman.

Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone, now in his eighth NFL season, went from Wyomissing to the University of Florida (after nearly landing at Notre Dame) and ended up as a third-round draft pick.

Now along comes Notre Dame football’s Max Hurleman, the Colgate graduate transfer and proud Wyomissing man who didn’t get to South Bend until June, but still managed to make himself indispensable on special teams for the 11^th-ranked Irish.

As Notre Dame prepares to face No. 24 Navy at high noon on Saturday in MetLife Stadium, its primary punt returner hails from a hardscrabble town about 125 miles southwest of East Rutherford, N.J.

Typical graduating class size at Wyomissing is around 140 students. And yet, Wolfrum, still coaching in his early ‘70s at this field named in his honor, ranks second for career victories (350-plus) among all active coaches in Pennsylvania high school football.

“We are a small school, but we will play anybody, anytime and anywhere,” Tucker said this week in a phone interview. “Coach Wolfrum is not afraid to lose. That’s the job of being a bullfighter – you fight bulls. I think that’s one of the reasons why people are so proud of Max. He wanted to fight the bulls at Notre Dame. He wanted to see what he could do.”

Max Hurleman wanted to 'go big or go home'

For parts of four seasons at Colgate, Hurleman did pretty much everything for the Raiders.

At 5-foot-11 and 202 pounds, he was a running back through 2022, averaging 4.2 yards per carry and finishing with 814 career rushing yards for the FCS-level program in Hamilton, N.Y.

He moved to wideout for his senior year in 2023, grabbing another 28 receptions on his way to career totals of 80 catches for 778 yards (9.7-yard average).

Hurleman also starred on special teams, both coverage and return units, and earned Patriot League honors as its top special-teams performer last season. He averaged 18.3 yards on 16 kickoff returns over his final two years, and his punt return average (on 26 attempts) was 8.3 yards.

Those totals might sound modest, but they were achieved against a backdrop of losing. Colgate, a proud program that counts former NFL running backs Marv Hubbard and Mark van Eeghen among its alumni, struggled to a combined 14-21 mark from 2020-23.

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Hurleman got to play only a handful of games against FBS competition, and the losses were all painfully one-sided: 51-0 at Boston College, 41-10 at Stanford, 42-17 at Army and 65-0 in last year’s season-opener at Syracuse.

With a 2020 Covid-bonus season at his disposal, Hurleman decided to enter the transfer portal.

“I wanted to see what was out there for me,” he said in mid-October. “My goal all along was to play football at the highest level possible. It was definitely a bit of a risk.”

Staying at Colgate for one last season was an option, but Hurleman wanted to test himself.

“I wanted to see what I could do taking the next step,” said Hurleman, who earned his Colgate degree in economics. “I wasn’t the most highly recruited player out of the portal, but I knew I wanted to go big or go home.”

As he had during his senior year at Wyomissing, Hurleman reached out to “Go Big Recruiting,” Tucker’s recruiting agency that helps aspiring young athletes get their highlight tapes in front of the right people.

Injuries that torpedoed Hurleman’s sophomore and junior seasons for the Spartans greatly limited his options in the 2020 recruiting cycle, even as an all-state running back with nearly 1,500 scrimmage yards and 18 touchdowns in a 12-1 senior season.

He landed at Colgate on a partial scholarship, and quickly earned his way to a full ride.

This time, in a crowded transfer portal, Hurleman’s options initially were limited to Richmond and New Hampshire at the FCS level and walk-on opportunities at Duke and Northwestern.

“I was very active in just reaching out to whoever I could,” Hurleman said. “To make a decision like this, maybe you need to be a little delusional and have a little irrational confidence.”

Ross Tucker's advice to Max Hurleman: 'You can do this'

After talking with Tucker, who Hurleman calls “a great guy in my football life,” the would-be bullfighter got in contact with Notre Dame recruiting ace Carter Auman. General manager Chad Bowden was looped into the discussion, and soon an agreement was hatched for Hurleman to walk-on at Notre Dame.

“I just said, ‘Listen, if I can play in the NFL and Anzalone can play in the NFL, you can play at Notre Dame,’ “ Tucker recalled telling Hurleman. “I said, ‘You can do this. I really believe in you.’ “

Tucker pointed out the value of Notre Dame’s alumni network, which includes the McGlinn family of Berks County, Pa. Terry McGlinn, who died in 2017, is an emeritus member of the Notre Dame board of trustees and a longtime university benefactor.

“Only two things can happen,” Tucker advised Hurleman. “Number One, you go there and you end up getting playing time and it’s an incredible experience. Or you go there and you know for the rest of your life what it’s like to go against Notre Dame guys at that level of play and you can put it on your resume. And for the rest of your life, you’re a Notre Dame football player.”

Despite missing spring ball, Hurleman was ready when summer conditioning started. His testing numbers were in line with scholarship-level players, and the former four-sport star from tiny Wyomissing, Pa., quickly earned the respect of his new teammates.

“It’s amazing to see a guy like him come in and just be the light to the team, really,” said wide receiver Beaux Collins, the Clemson grad transfer. “Seeing a guy like him come from a lower-tier school and be able to help us out is just very eye-opening. I appreciate guys like that, guys that just have a love for the game, just like I do.”

How Max Hurleman found his niche at Notre Dame

Brought in as a running back along with fellow walk-on Jake Tafelski of Central Michigan, Hurleman switched over to defensive back for fall camp when Devyn Ford returned to running back.

Hurleman earned a spot on three special-teams units for the season opener at Texas A&M, including kickoff coverage, and by Week 3 at Purdue he was gaining ground as a sure-handed daredevil of a punt returner.

No longer would special teams coach Marty Biagi have to fret about those “hidden yards” that were being lost by letting punts roll.

Through seven games, Hurleman has appeared on 92 plays across four different special-teams units. Only freshman Loghan Thomas (100 plays) has seen more action.

“I can’t say I’m surprised just because of the type of kid he is,” Tucker said. “His will, his determination, his belief — I thought that would work pretty well on special teams. Even my experience in the NFL, special teams is a lot of want-to. Special teams is a lot more desire, preparation and technique than I think most people give it credit for. Max is kind of proving that.”

Tucker paused a moment to collect his thoughts as he tried to explain the Meaning of Max for their shared hometown.

“I’ve seen the quotes from (Marcus) Freeman, and it’s hard to describe,” Tucker said. “It gets me choked up because it’s a really small hometown, but it’s tightknit and the high school football program means a lot to people.”

When Hurleman played for Colgate at West Point in 2022, Tucker called the game for the CBS Sports Network. Wolfrum and his coaching staff were on hand as well, making the drive up from Wyomissing.

Berks County is Penn State country, but this fall, thanks to Hurleman, it’s also part of Irish Nation.

“We’re all rooting for him,” Tucker said. “We’re all following him. It’s immense pride to see him out there doing what he’s doing, because you know how hard that is to do. We couldn’t be prouder of him.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football gains inspiration from walk-on Max Hurleman