Notre Dame Rolled Out The Red Carpet For 2019 OL Andrew Kristofic
It had been almost two years since 2019 Pine-Richland (Pa.) offensive lineman Andrew Kristofic had been to Notre Dame. The 6-foot-5, 265-pounder made his way to South Bend on Monday, and he wasn’t disappointed.
“I’ll say it went beyond my expectations, but not because I had the bar set low,” Kristofic told Irish Sports Daily. “They really did such a great job in everything. It was awesome. I really enjoyed myself.”
The three-star prospect was familiar with what the Irish had to offer on and off the field, but it still blew Kristofic away seeing it up close and personal.
“The combination of athletics and academics is something no other school can offer at the level of Notre Dame along with the tradition of offensive line play,” explained Kristofic. “It’s really just a strong group of guys that have been able to accomplish a lot of things.
“The whole day I could see how invested they were in making my visit great.”
Notre Dame does an excellent job of rolling out the red carpet for its top prospects, and Kristofic got the red carpet treatment and then some.
“The highlight of the trip was going out to lunch with my dad, Coach (Jeff) Quinn, Coach (Tom) Rees, Coach (Chip) Long and Mike McGlinchey. It was awesome.”
The chance to speak with McGlinchey is something Kristofic wasn’t expecting, but the message also hit home with the Pine-Richland star.
“He’s super down to earth,” Kristofic said. “He’s a guy that’s going to be a high first-round draft pick, and he’s spending time to have lunch with my dad and I to talk about some of the experiences he has gone through at Notre Dame. He spoke about why he chose Notre Dame and all the craziness he’s going through now.”
Kristofic was equally impressed with the way Quinn conducted himself on the field with his guys during Tuesday’s practice.
“I’ve been talking with him constantly since he got the job,” stated Kristofic. “It was awesome to see him coaching and in his element. I got to see how he interacted with the players as a coach and not just a recruiter.
“It was cool to see how he worked with the guys.”
Not to be outdone, head coach Brian Kelly impressed the Kristofic family as well.
“It was a huge highlight of the trip too,” Kristofic said of his meeting with Kelly. “To have a coach at Coach Kelly’s level and such a high-profile coach take time out of a busy day to sit down to meet with us about so many things beyond football is something I really appreciated and didn’t take lightly.”
Kristofic was clearly impressed with Notre Dame and will now take one more visit before making a decision, and it’s a decision that could be coming very soon.
“I have one visit left,” Kristofic said. “I’m going to go down and visit Clemson real soon. I can’t say with 100 percent certainty when I’m going to make my decision, but I can confidently say it will be a lot earlier than I had thought.
“My recruitment is really winding down and in the last stages. It’s been a long process, but it’s coming to an end now.”
One guy that will be paying extra close attention is 2018 Notre Dame quarterback signee Phil Jurkovec. The two led Pine-Richland to a State Title in the fall, but Jurkovec hasn’t overwhelmed his friend and teammate with recruiting pitches.
“He went through the situation in the past,” said Kristofic. “He knows what it’s like to be hounded and questioned about everything. He’s given me some space, but he’s always willing to answer any questions Notre Dame-related or in general.
“He makes sure to give his little Notre Dame pitch real subtly and as much as he can. I talked with him on the way home about the whole visit. It was cool.”