Mike Drop: Opinions On Notre Dame Football Recruiting

This new weekend column by BlueandGold.com recruiting insider Mike Singer will include his honest opinions on various topics in the world of Notre Dame football recruiting.

Check out Singer’s first installment below, which covers Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn and a running back prospect the Irish should offer.

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Some recruiting takes I have need to be prefaced by stating I’ve been covering Notre Dame football recruiting since May 2019. While I am still green, I can provide a fresh outlook from someone who is still newer to the Irish beat and didn’t grow up donning blue and gold gear.

I understand that when Jeff Quinn was promoted as Notre Dame’s offensive line coach in January 2018, it wasn’t a fan-favorite hire. Two and a half years later, he’s still not beloved by a portion of the fan base. I couldn’t tell you how many Fighting Irish followers feel this way, but it’s certainly a vocal group.

I’ll let others speak to his acumen as an X’s and O’s coach, but I will give my take on him as a recruiter — and it’s that he’s one of the best on the staff.

After being promoted to offensive line coach in January 2018 following roles as an offensive analyst and assistant strength and conditioning coach, Quinn got right to work and helped the Irish secure a quartet of four-star offensive line prospects in the 2019 class.

It should be noted that 2012-17 offensive line coach Harry Hiestand originally offered those prospects, but Quinn helped the Irish close the deal after building a relationship with each of them over a span of a few months. Quinn Carroll, Zeke Correll, Andrew Kristofic and John Olmstead all committed to the Irish within two months of each other.

“I loved Coach Hiestand, and he recruited me very well,” Carroll told BlueandGold.com following his commitment to Notre Dame in May 2018. “It was a seamless transition because I had built a relationship with Coach Quinn already.

“I knew Coach [Brian] Kelly wouldn’t hire someone who didn’t live up to the hype of the Notre Dame offensive line tradition.”