Jeff Quinn & Notre Dame Offensive Line Standards: Part II
Including the likelihood of Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey becoming first-round NFL selections this spring, no school since 2013 will have produced more offensive linemen drafted in the top three rounds than Notre Dame.
That’s a credit to the work ethic/skills of the linemen plus the developmental skills under 2012-17 Fighting Irish line coach Harry Hiestand, who this January accepted a position with the Chicago Bears.
Thus, successor Jeff Quinn, who worked as an offensive line coach/coordinator with or for head coach Brian Kelly from 1989-2009, and served as his offensive analyst since 2015, has a lofty bar to try to match, which was addressed in Part I.
The other half of the battle is the recruiting circuit. Along with quarterback, the two easiest positions to recruit at Notre Dame are tight end and offensive line, especially because of the intrinsic traits of offensive linemen that 1986-96 Irish head coach Lou Holtz outlined 30 years ago.
“They’re the kind of people who know exactly what classes they will take two semesters from now, they tend to marry at a younger age than the average player, and very rarely will you read in a newspaper about an offensive lineman stealing a motorcycle or car like you would about a defensive lineman or player, who tends to be more wild,” Holtz said.
Announced on Jan. 23 as Notre Dame’s new line coach, Quinn had only two weeks to fill out an offensive line that signed two players on Dec. 20 with Ohio’s John Dirksen (6-5, 303) and Tennessee’s Cole Mabry (6-5, 275).
Less than 24 hours after his official hiring, Quinn joined Kelly in the home of Arkansas’ Luke Jones (6-5, 289), who had committed to the Irish in December but still needed to be secured after the coaching change. Because Quinn’s brother in-law had lived in Arkansas, the conversation turned to water moccasins in the state, and Jones explained how he had even been bitten by a copper head snake.
“You survived a snake bite?” an incredulous Quinn asked.
“Yeah, I was 13 years old,” Jones replied.
“I said, ‘You’re one tough son of a gun — I’m glad we’re signing you to Notre Dame,’” Quinn concluded.
“That is a very high achieving family,” said Quinn of the Jones clan, with Luke playing on four state title teams and also earning the Willie Roaf Award as the state’s top offensive lineman. “They’ve raised three outstanding children. When I went in there and had a chance to sit down and visit and have a meal with him mom and dad, his sister, and just started to hear the questions which really hit my wheelhouse …
“That to me made all the difference in the world and I was very eager to keep that commitment. And then I went back down the final week by myself.”
On the eve of signing day, Quinn also waited through the night to receive the pledge and eventual inking of California’s Jarrett Patterson, who originally committed to Arizona State but then chose the Irish over UCLA and Michigan.
“I feel really good about my ability to read body language and look in a person’s eyes and see their soul, and I felt like there was a connection there,” Quinn said. “He just needed to know who I was and how I was going to be able to train and develop him into the type of player he wants to become. Football is in their blood. He comes from a championship football program, and those things were very evident early on when I sat down and started to talk to him.”
Like Jones, Patterson played on a state champion as a senior, as did Dirksen. Mabrey’s team was 10-2. Individually, the quartet does not have the ratings of previous offensive line hauls, but Quinn notes their pedigree and background as champions.
“These are high-achieving families that have raised high-achieving young men, and they want to be part of a high achieving university and football program, and that’s what we have to offer,” he said.
What was important to Quinn was emphasizing the guidance, leadership and culture they would have at Notre Dame academically, athletically and spiritually.
“I wanted to make sure that they understood who Jeff Quinn was as a person, as a husband, as a man, certainly as a football coach, how their lives can be impacted by my leadership and direction each and every single day — making sure that the parents felt comfortable,” Quinn said. “Just as I raised two sons … Making sure we do things the right way, that we make the right choices, that we make the decision to set that standard.
“Our goal is to graduate our student-athletes and compete for a national championship, but the magic to that is how do you that? I kept saying ‘Because it’s about people, the right kind of people, and that’s why I’m in your home and I appreciate you allowing me into your home.’
“I congratulate the parents and they’ve done a fantastic job because of the priorities both in the classroom and on the field, and the way they’ve trained their young men to make great choices in their life.”
Like Hiestand, Quinn is not into pigeon holing a lineman into one position. Cross-training is highly valued while starting the best five available. At Central Michigan, Quinn and Co., transformed tight end Joe Staley into a first-round offensive tackle and six-time Pro Bowl selection. At Cincinnati, Quinn coached future NFL players Jeff Linkenbach, Trevor Canfield and, most notably Jason Kelce, the current All-Pro center for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
In fact, Kelce was a guard at Cincinnati who moved to center in a game when the starter, Chris Jurek, was injured. Flexibility is imperative.
“If your best five are all tackles, then two of them are going to have to play guard and one’s going to have play center,” Quinn said. “I think that’s the fair way to approach it, I think the players in the room respect that. That’s why it’s important if you have three guards competing for two positions, they know how important every day is to demonstrate and prove that they’re one of the top two.”
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne's Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD, @BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook