JP Carrico made his way back to Notre Dame this weekend and it won’t be the 2028 Kentucky offensive lineman’s last trip to South Bend.
“It was good,” Carrico said of the visit for the Irish’s 28-7 win over Boise State. “I thought it was a lot of fun. It was a really cool experience.
“I got to meet all the coaches. I got to meet Marcus Freeman, which is pretty cool. Then, I talked to Coach (Joe) Rudolph, who's the o-line coach and then I also talked to Harris Bivin, the recruiting coordinator for our area. Then I talked to Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa for a while and I talked to some other student assistants.”
The 6-foot-8, 295-pounder acknowledged being “very nervous” when meeting Freeman.
“He said he watched my film,” Carrico said of the Irish head coach. “It was pretty cool.”
Carrico appreciated the opportunity to reconnect with Rudolph after spending time with him at Irish Invasion and this summer’s Grill & Chill event.
“He said he watched all of my film and he says I'm doing really good and that I'm probably going to break out over the next few weeks and really start doing well.” Carrico explained.
“I think he's a great guy. I can tell he really takes care of his players. I can just tell he's obviously a really great guy.”
The Owensboro Catholic High School standout and Bivin have common roots.
“We kind of know him from my hometown,” Carrico said of Bivin. “He's from Owensboro, so we know him. We were just kind of talking about some Owensboro stuff.
“I like him. I think he's really cool.”
Carrico enjoyed learning more about the University during this weekend’s trip.
“The mission of the school and how it's not just about football,” he said of what he learned. “They want to make you a good student and they want to make you a better person as well. And faith, because I'm Catholic, so I feel like it's just kind of a big deal.
Carrico said he will be back - “Oh yes, definitely,” - although he isn’t sure when. He would like to learn more about Notre Dame’s Engineering program during his next trip.
Carrico has early offers from Kentucky, Louisville, Miami-Ohio and Eastern Kentucky.
He goes to Louisville for a game in a couple of weeks and will try to get back to Kentucky for a game after that.
“Education is a big deal, but I want to be able to go somewhere where I can grow as a person; spiritually and mentally and just become just an overall better person. Not just do really well on the full field, do that and then also get a really good education. Those are the goals.”
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