Early Signing Period: 4-Star OT Quinn Carroll Signs with the Irish

Was there any doubt that a guy named Quinn Carroll, whose grandfather was from Ireland and who sports coiffed fire red hair, would choose to play his college football with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish?

Carroll, after all, had called it a “dream to play Notre Dame football.” His dad, Jay, was a standout tight end for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and played briefly in the NFL. But even he was a Notre Dame fan.

“I always embraced Notre Dame with open arms and it’s where God wanted me to be and I was so fired up to finally figure that out,” Carroll told Irish Illustrated. “Once I figured that out and I told my dad, he was beyond excited for me. He knew the best decision for me would be Notre Dame, in his head and in his heart but he didn’t put that on me. He let me figure that out for myself. And that’s what he told me. He was just so glad that I made the correct decision.”

The 6-foot-6, 295 pound prospect is ranked No. 108 in the 247 Sports Composite, the 12th best offensive tackle and the top football player in Minnesota. The Irish’s offensive line foursome — Carroll, Zeke Correll, Andrew Kristofic and John Olmstead — is the No. 1 ranked offensive line class nationwide for the 2019 cycle. That’s pretty impressive when you consider the program inserted Jeff Quinn into the coordinator position when Harry Hiestand left earlier this year.