Strength, Aggression Put Quinn Carroll Among The Best

Strength is certainly a strength for Quinn Carroll‍ these days, but that wasn’t always the case for the 2019 Notre Dame offensive line signee.

“He could barely do 130 pounds on the bench,” Edina head coach Derrin Lamker jokes.

“Now, he’s as strong as anybody wants to be. He’s benching over 300. He gave the effort with the strength on his own. He worked at it and we had some sessions, but that was on him.”

Along with the size and strength, the 6-foot-6, 290-pounder Carroll displayed an aggression uncommon for high schoolers.

“Most o-linemen don’t have that type of aggression,” Lamker says. “He’s aggressive from the start of the play to the end of the play and everywhere in between. That’s kind of what got people’s eyes. Obviously, his size and strength and his footspeed are big parts of it too.”

Carroll caught the eyes of just about every major college football program and the Minnesota native gathered dozens of offers before settling on the Irish back in May. But the attention that comes with being a national football recruit never changed Carroll.

“That’s probably one of his best attributes,” his coach says. “He would work with the younger kids when he wasn’t in like you’ve never seen. Some of our younger kids who weren’t as skilled, Quinn was one of the first ones to step in and help them.

“Being one of the biggest recruits in the nation, he could have big-timed people, but you wouldn’t have known it. He was just their buddy. It was pretty cool to see a kid handle this with poise and grace.”

That kind of attitude permeates through the program, according to Lamker.

“It makes them all feel special instead of one guy and understand, ‘Hey, if he’s going to be this way, we should be this way. This is how it’s done,’” says Lamker. “It just helps your program go to the next level having kids like that come through it.”

Carroll had a lot of great options to choose from, but Lamker believes his decision was “great for both parties.”

“Number one, academically, holy cow,” he adds. “You can’t get a better degree. Number two, athletically, they’re one of the top teams in the nation also. With those two things, it’s almost a no-brainer for Quinn and his family. We’re excited to watch it all unfold.”

Lamker expects Carroll to improve his strength and flexibility in a college strength program when he enrolls at Notre Dame next month.

“That’s huge,” the coach says of Carroll’s decision to get a head start in South Bend.

“Come spring ball, he won’t be swimming and then all of a sudden, come back next August, he’s going to feel like a veteran just because of entering early, going to school and practicing and lifting and doing all of the running stuff and just getting to meet all of the guys. That’s a big part of it too, fitting in socially. He’ll do a great job of that.”