Kristofic Enjoys Relaxing Return To Notre Dame

2019 Pine-Richland (Pa.) offensive lineman Andrew Kristofic‍ has become used to winning games as the Rams are the defending State Champs. The 6-foot-5, 265-pounder has led Pine-Richland to a 5-1 start with the only blemish coming to national powerhouse IMG Academy (Fla.) in the opening game of the year. 

Kristofic made the trip back to South Bend over the weekend to get a chance to relax and watch Notre Dame beat Stanford 38-17. 

“It was great,” Kristofic told Irish Sports Daily. “The game was unbelievable, and the atmosphere was electric. The whole weekend was a great experience.” 

The visit was different in many ways than past visits. The pressure to commit was gone, and it was an opportunity to enjoy his future school.

“It was a whole different mindset going into the visit,” explained Kristofic. “I didn’t have to pay super close attention to little things to see how I liked everything. I could sit back, relax and enjoy the visit. I got to have fun talking to my future teammates and coaches. I was able to take everything in rather than trying to compare it to other places.” 

Another part of the visit was the chance to meet some of the commits for the first time, including fellow offensive line commit Zeke Correll‍. 

“It was really nice to finally meet him,” said Kristofic. “We had been talking since he committed over text and through Social Media. It was great to meet him for the first time and the other commits that were up there. We got to start a stronger friendship while we were up there.” 

Kristofic also used the weekend to catch up with his good friend and former/future teammate Phil Jurkovec. The duo won a lot of games at Pine-Richland and have kept in constant contact since Jurkovec arrived in South Bend. 

“We text back and forth quite a bit,” Kristofic explained. "I got the chance to tell him good luck and stuff before the game on The Walk. I spoke with him for a while after the game. 

“We’ve stayed in good contact, and it’s cool hearing the stuff he’s gone through already from his perspective so far.” 

When Kristofic chose the Irish, a significant part of the decision was offensive line coach Jeff Quinn. There were questions about Quinn entering the season as he hadn’t coached offensive line since his days at Cincinnati, but Kristofic witnessed an impressive performance on Saturday night. 

“There’s always a lot of questions with first-year coaches, especially with having a coach like Coach Hiestand leave combined with losing two top 10 draft picks,” stated Kristofic. “There were a lot of big shoes to fill by Coach Quinn. The players and Coach Quinn have done a great job so far. 

“The Stanford game was a perfect example. They physically dominated the game at the line of scrimmage against a really good team and a team that’s traditionally given them problems. They were able to do just about anything they wanted. They had a ton of yards on the ground. Dexter (Williams) exploded in his first game back, and they gave (Ian) Book all the time in the world to find guys like (Miles) Boykin. They had everything going.” 

It’s clear the Pine-Richland standout holds Quinn in high regard, and the two have really focused on building a strong relationship since his commitment, but also preparing for Kristofic for his arrival in January. 

“You’re always building a relationship,” said Kristofic. “I have nothing but very high thoughts and praise to give Coach Quinn. I really like him a lot, and it’s been great getting to know him over the last several months. As it gets closer to January, we’re getting that relationship stronger before I get there. 

“It’s been great getting to know him, and my whole family really loves Coach. It’s been a good time.” 

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