ByCraig Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Notre Dame's Jason Ching.

---

Ching returns to
gridiron battles

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

It's usually not a good sign when the head coach starts offering his condolences before the surgery is even performed.

But that's exactly what former Notre Dame main man Lou Holtz did after hearing the problems Jason Ching and his lower back were having last fall.

"After I herniated my disc, a lot of rumors went around that it was career ending and I would never play again," Ching said yesterday.

"Coach Holtz thought that too, you know. He brought me in and told me that even if I couldn't play anymore that I would still get my scholarship.

"So I was pretty worried that I wasn't going to be able to play. The trainers were telling me that they weren't sure; sometimes it heals, sometimes it doesn't.

"Luckily for me, it did heal."

Luck played only a part of it for the 1995 USA Today Prep All-American. The rest was hard work and a determined spirit that he and football weren't ready to part company just yet.

Last November, Ching underwent successful surgery to repair the disc in his lower back, but a month later he suffered severe stomach problems that put him in the hospital in critical condition the day after Christmas.

Three weeks later, he had minor complications that left him bedridden for nearly a week. When he finally checked back into the real world, Ching was down from a formidable 278 pounds to an anorexic 212.

Ching is back up to a healthy-looking 245, but realizes he'll have to have a little more in the seat of his pants once fall camp begins.

"Before spring practice, they told me to put it on slow," Ching said of his steady weight gain in recent months. "I didn't know if I was going to play spring ball until the week before.

"They were really surprised I was back so fast from everything that had happened. But I worked out pretty hard and ran a lot, and ended up playing all spring.

"I wound up being second-string defensive tackle (behind Cory Bennett), so I was pleased with my progress. It took me awhile to get back into the groove. I hadn't hit for awhile.

"I felt kind of awkward, kind of scared a little bit that my back was going to go out again. But it all fell into place."

The former Punahou School standout returns to South Bend, Ind., in eight days to prepare for his sophomore season. He will enroll in summer school and take part in informal seven-on-seven drills with other players.

New head coach Bob Davie wants the defensive players to be familiar with the 4-3 scheme the Fighting Irish plan to unveil in the fall.

"It's a good defense," Ching said. "I think we're going to be a better football team than last year, but you just can't talk about that. You have to prove it on the field.

"When Coach Holtz left, I was a little nervous who they were going to name as coach. But we were all glad when it was Coach Davie. He's a player's coach.

"I enjoyed playing for Coach Holtz, but he was up here. Coach Davie is the kind of guy who'll be with you down in the trenches."

Davie was the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M when the University of Hawaii played the Aggies in 1990 at Aloha Stadium. Jason's brother, Shawn, was the center for the Rainbows, something Davie never forgot.

"He told me Shawn played a great game against them," Jason Ching said of the current KITV (Channel 4) sportscaster. "Shawn has been an inspiration for me. When I was going through rehab, I thought about him.

"He was the last guy given a scholarship at Hawaii. He came out of nowhere and look where he is today because of hard work and determination.

"My family helped me through a lot this year. I had some setbacks off the field, but I was able to deal with them. I'm looking forward to going back there and prepare for the best season I can have."