Recruiting Week In Review
The loss of Harry Hiestand to the NFL was definitely a blow to Notre Dame and his replacement became a topic of great interest. One candidate that most fans didn’t consider was already on Head Coach Brian Kelly’s staff. Jeff Quinn, who has a long relationship with Kelly, was on staff as an analyst when he was elevated to offensive line coach. He did a great job in helping to finish off the Class of 2018 and has already made in-roads with Class of 2019 recruits. Two of those recruits were recently in South Bend for Notre Dame’s second Junior Day and both came away giving Quinn high marks. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?
Harry Miller, OL, 6-4, 305, Buford High School, Buford, GA admitted that he saw nearly everything he needed at Notre Dame’s Junior Day but is nonetheless already planning to return to South Bend.
“We came in, talked to Coach Quinn, talked with a professor from Engineering,” Miller recounted. “We did a campus tour and went around and talked with the coaches. We got the whole spiel.”
Miller was eager to meet Quinn, which turned out to the highlight of his trip.
“I like him a lot,” Miller shared. “I talked with some of the players. They said they liked him a lot. I got a good feeling about him.”
Miller, a top student, also enjoyed his meeting with Engineering, his planned major.
“I got to talk with one professor who talked about the whole process and what’s involved with Notre Dame academics,” Miller said. “Students are really a big part and they all want to know each other. It’s a really nice environment to learn in. Knowledge is power. It’s such a big deal to have something between your ears and be able to use it when football is over.”
Miller also gave the Notre Dame campus high marks.
“I liked the campus a lot,” he said. “It was a really nice day today to take a tour around.”
Miller announced a top five of Notre Dame, Ohio State, Stanford, Clemson and Georgia. He seems to be focusing on only those five. He’s planning his return to Notre Dame for the fall.
“I think we’re going to try to come down for a game to get that game day feel, but we got a whole lot of stuff done today,” he said. “We got a good feel for the academic side and then the whole campus as well. We’re going to try to come back on game day to experience that.”
Miller was not the only one that wanted to get to know Jeff Quinn better. Zeke Correll, OL, 6-4, 270, Anderson High School, Cincinnati, OH also attended Notre Dame’s second Junior Day and, like Miller, one of his main objectives was to get to know the man that might be coaching him.
“He came to my school to visit one day,” Correll recalled. “I didn’t know a ton about him and really didn’t get to see him at all beyond a quick hello. I wanted to go down to visit to know him a little better.”
Correll obviously liked what he saw and heard from Quinn.
“I got the opportunity to get to know him better and I like him a lot,” he shared. “That was great because Coach Hiestand was definitely a hard replacement. That definitely gives them a big plus.”
Correll was impressed with the relationship that Quinn has with his offensive linemen.
“You can tell he really cares about his guys,” said the four-star prospect. “He definitely wants the best for his players and obviously knows what he’s doing and that he’s a good coach because he’s a coach at Notre Dame which is a big deal.”
Quinn showed a small part of the Irish offensive scheme with Correll, just enough to give him a taste of what Notre Dame does. Correll, who has a brother in Notre Dame Law School, also got to take a look at the academic side of college life.
“We talked about how you don’t need to know your major right away,” he explained. “We talked about the connections you get with the Notre Dame degree and what you could do with that if you don’t make it to The League. The opportunities are endless just because of the name on the diploma.”
Another area of the Irish program at which Correll wanted to take a hard look was strength and conditioning. He met with Matt Balis, Notre Dame’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach.
“He’s definitely a fiery guy,” Correll said. “I could see him developing anyone into an elite athlete. That actually is a definitely part of my decision-making process. I love lifting and if I didn’t like the strength coach, who I’d be spending a lot of time with, it wouldn’t be in my best interest.”
In addition to the recent Junior Day, Correll visited South Bend last fall and would like to return again this spring.
“Maybe hang out with the players a little more just to get to know them better and build a better relationship and that’s about it,” he explained.
He’s also looking at taking visits to Clemson and Stanford. He’s not sure exactly what form his next Notre Dame visit will take, specifically if it will be an official visit or not.
“It depends,” he said. “I’m not quite set on anything yet. It’s just how I feel. If I feel like I’m getting closer to my decision then I’ll make it official, but if I feel like I’m an in-season guy then I’ll wait and go on an official for a game day or something.”
These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.