Gregory Patrick got a deeper look at Notre Dame when the 2026 Michigan offensive lineman returned to South Bend on Friday.
“It was great,” Patrick told Irish Sports Daily afterward. “It was awesome.
“A big part of the visit was just being able to talk to the players a lot and getting their perspective on things. Honestly, they really impressed me. I talked to Anthonie Knapp before. I was able to talk to Aamil Wagner and the early enrollee, Owen (Strebig). They're all great. They provided really good insight. It was awesome to be able to talk to them and see their perspective on things.”
Getting to know the culture of each offensive line room is a priority for Patrick as he works toward a final decision.
“I think it is important to hear from those guys, there are five of you out there playing at one time, so it is important to have that kind of connectivity within your room,” Patrick explained. “Hearing them talk about that and how the culture's changed a little bit in the room, how Coach (Joe) Rudolph has changed it for the better a little bit since he's gotten there. Just hearing them talk about that and how it's been good for them and they've been challenged by the University and the academics and everything.
“They all have the same mindset , that it is for the better and they're going to get better because of it. It was good to hear them talk about that.”
Being around like-minded people is another major factor for the 6-foot-5, 275-pounder.
“In the end, those people are going to bring the best out of you and you're going to be able to help other people and you're going to have substance to what you're doing,” he said. “You're going to feel better about it in the end. There aren’t a lot of shortcuts you can take. There's not a way to get around it. If you go to one school, maybe you get around doing school and you go to college somewhere and you kind of get around that stuff. But at Notre Dame, you're going to do something that's worthwhile. You're going to do something that you're going to feel accomplished in the end being that you did it.
“Talking to those guys, they're going to challenge you. They're going to help you also. They're also each other's biggest coaches out there. They watch film and they help each other during drills. So it was pretty cool to hear them talk about that.”
The Portage Northern High School standout had the chance to watch Rudolph coach in practice for the third time in as many years. He also spent time watching film with Rudolph on Friday. Rudolph’s attention to detail was one thing that stood out to Patrick.
“Also the tough love that he has for his guys during practice,” he added. “Aamil Wagner made a good statement. I was talking to him. A lot of guys play for coaches for two reasons, either out of fear or out of love. And he was talking about how much he plays for Coach Rudolph out of his love for him and because he know that Coach Rudolph really cares about him.
“It was pretty cool hearing him talk about how tough coach Rudolph is, but he also loves you and is getting something out of it. So it was pretty cool.”
Patrick is also considering schools like Michigan, where he visited on Saturday, along with Michigan State and Penn State. He’ll take officials to each, beginning with Penn State on May 30th followed by Michigan State on June 6th, Notre Dame on June 13th and Michigan on June 20th.
He’s looking forward to spending more time with the players when he returns to South Bend.
“I'm using the official visits as kind of a closing, like, 'OK, yeah, this is totally legit. This confirms what I thought about it.'
“The official visits will be important for that.”
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