2026 TE JC Anderson Talks Notre Dame Visit, What's Next

Less than a week after announcing his offer from Notre Dame, 2026 Illinois tight end JC Anderson‍ made his way down to Notre Dame.

“It was pretty cool,” Anderson said of his trip to South Bend on Friday. “It was an early-morning practice. I got to sit in with a team meeting. The whole thing was just awesome.”

The Mt. Zion High School standout had the chance to visit with head coach Marcus Freeman.

“He was just telling us about how the academics at Notre Dame are second to none,” the 6-foot-7, 230-pounder said. “The whole speech was basically about the academics and having two goals.”

He also met with offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Mike Denbrock.

“He's really cool, I love Coach Denbock,” Anderson said. “He's just really down to earth. He's obviously one of the best coaches that there is. 

“He had the best offense at LSU and he's just one of those old school coaches that I love having as a coach. He's not young, like all these other coaches. He's just really down to earth and he is willing to discipline the kids. He's just an old-school coach, I like those types of coaches a lot.”

After his meetings with coaches, he toured campus.

“It is seriously one of the prettiest campuses I've ever seen,” he said.

Anderson’s offer sheet includes schools like Tennessee, Penn State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Texas A&M, Nebraska and Ole Miss among others.

It didn’t take long for the Irish to grab his attention.

“I mean, it's Notre Dame,” he said. “They're famous tight ends and then they have some of the best traditions in the US. They just run really deep. Off the field, they have won some of the best academics in the country. There's a ton of stuff that goes into it.”

He has trips planned to Michigan State, Iowa and Penn State next with other visits possibly added later.

Anderson plans to return to South Bend in the summer to work with Denbrock during a camp setting.

“We're going to go work out, watch some film and stuff. Then, I'll be back for a game at some point. I'm going to go to a night game.”

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