Gibbons Gets Another Look At Home

Dillan Gibbons didn’t get to spend much time with the current members of Notre Dame’s offensive linemen while the 2017 Irish offensive line commit was in South Bend for the Michigan State game earlier this month, but the brief meeting he had with them said plenty. 

Gibbons and fellow 2017 Notre Dame offensive line pledge Josh Lugg were in the stands as the Irish made their way through the crowd down to the field for warmups.

“They stopped by and the whole o-line hugged me and Josh,” Gibbons said. I got to see all of the linemen, they all came up and said ‘Hi.’ 

“It was awesome. It was incredible.

“They’re definitely all cut out of the same cloth, they’ve had great coaching and had certain values instilled by Coach (Harry) Hiestand.” 

The loss to the Spartans was one of the only lowlights of the trip.

“It was awesome,” Gibbons said of the visit. “It was a great experience. The outcome of the game sucked, but what I’ve learned is football is a lot more than just winning and losing. What you pick up in those games is what really matters.” 

Meeting up with fellow commits like Lugg, tight ends Brock Wright and linebacker Drew White among others was certainly a highlight.

“It was awesome,” he said. “Nobody needed introductions when we got there. We all knew each other’s names and walked up and said Hi. It’s like I’ve known those kids for years and with guys like Brock and Josh, I really have. That was the first time I met Brock in person at Notre Dame. It was pretty awesome.” 

The Clearwater Central Catholic standout admitted it was funny to “meet” some members of the class who has already gotten to know extremely well through a group text message all of the commits are on.

“It was cool,” he said. “It was really cool. It was a great experience. That little bit of meeting those kids and making that physical connection, really made the trip for me.” 

After arriving on Saturday, getting checked in and eating at the Gug, Gibbons and the other visiting recruits walked over to the stadium.

“We walked through where they do the Player Walk,” he said. “It’s always amazing hearing the bagpipes coming down and all of that stuff.” 

Then they had the chance to go inside.

“We walked down the tunnel,” he said. “That just gives me the jitters to think about it. I can’t even put that into words.” 

In reality, the entire trip was difficult for Gibbons to sum up.

“It was awesome. Words can’t justify how beautiful the campus. It’s really hard to put my emotions about everything in words or the days afterward when you’re still comprehending what happened. It’s ridiculous.”