Edina Offensive Lineman Quinn Carroll Heading To Notre Dame
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Rain has forced Edina High School inside for football practice. But this is still where Quinn Carroll wants to be -- playing football anywhere.
"I grew up in a football family. My dad played football, my brothers played football, and I grew up going to their practices and stuff like that," Carroll said. "Football's been my life, you know, forever. So, you know, I've always loved it."
The Carroll family is anchored by a father who knows a little about the game. Jay Carroll went from Winona Cotter to the Gophers and excelled.
"He coached me all through, you know, EFA growing up, and, you know, physical football is his deal," Carroll said. "Always getting me to be more aggressive, more physical and, you know, really dominating the line of scrimmage, because I was always an offensive lineman."
When you are 6-feet-7-inches tall and hovering around 300 pounds, it helps. Add to that a mental approach.
"Kids don't grow up very often saying, 'That's what I want to be is an offensive lineman,' alright? They either get too big and they have to play the position, or they're not fast enough to play defense, and they have to play O-line," said Coach Derrin Lamker. "But to be a really good one, you have to be, have that mentality of a defensive player where you just want to smash people every play."
Carroll's size and abilities caught the attention of many major colleges. He made his decision and will play at Notre Dame.
"You know, there are a lot of things that come into the recruiting process, and, you know, the decision process. But, you know, very unique experience with Notre Dame. There's nothing like it," Carroll said. "You think of all the schools in the nation that may have offered me and stuff like that, there's nothing like Notre Dame."
They will get a big lineman who likes to lead. That is part of his current role.
"Each and every day, practice and games and film. You know, just learning and, you know, every once and a while it will spring and they'll click with it, you know. They'll get a good block and, you know, I'll talk to them in film and say, 'You know, after that play, how did you feel?'" Carroll said.
And that makes him a high school coach's dream.
"His goal's obviously is go to state and win state like everybody else, but, you know, to have that mentality as, you know, a kid who is, you know, one of the best prospects in the nation, to help everybody else on your team is pretty amazing," Lamker said.
