How 49ers offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey ‘fell in love’ with Notre Dame on first recruiting visit
The McGlinchey family had plans to visit multiple schools in the Midwest.
Mike McGlinchey, a Philadelphia native and junior at William Penn Charter School at the time, loaded up the car with his father and headed west. He had scholarship offers from Big Ten schools — including Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State — plus Notre Dame. He was going to visit all four during spring break.
In the end, he only needed to visit one — a certain campus in South Bend, Ind.
“Fortunately for me and my dad’s gas money, I picked Notre Dame that weekend,” McGlinchey told the Inside the Garage podcast. “I fell in love with the place. It was everything I always dreamed it would be.”
He had that dream many, many times.
“I grew up an Irish-Catholic kid in Philadelphia. Notre Dame is really the only team you root for,” McGlinchey said. “I watched NBC every Saturday growing up. I watched those golden helmets shining in South Bend.”
Current Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand is the one who turned those dreams into reality. Just a few weeks after Hiestand accepted the Irish O-line job for the first time in 2012, McGlinchey received an offer. Hiestand served as McGlinchey’s position coach for all five of his collegiate seasons.
Hiestand’s guidance paid off. McGlinchey was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Hiestand turned McGlinchey from a 260-pound true freshman who spent much of his high school career as a tight end to a 315-pound fear-inducing tackle.
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McGlinchey’s first start came in the 2014 Music City Bowl victory over LSU. He was a three-time starter and two-time captain from 2015-17. He was one of the main reasons Notre Dame went from a 4-8 season in 2016 to a 10-3 finish in 2017, setting the stage for two College Football Playoff appearances in the next three seasons.
McGlinchey wasn’t there for those CFP runs, but he and offensive line teammate Quenton Nelson laid the foundation for them.
“I remember calling Q, I called him when we were sitting at home watching bowl games over Christmas time, and I was like, ‘Dude, what are we doing?” McGlinchey said. “He said, ‘This is the worst I’ve ever felt sitting watching television before in my life. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand how we let this happen.’ I said, ‘When we get back, we have to change this.'”
They did.
The only games Notre Dame lost in 2017 were to ranked teams. The Irish capped the year off with another bowl game victory over LSU, that time in the Citrus Bowl. Yes, he had to endure a 4-8 season in his penultimate campaign in blue and gold. And no, he never won a national championship. But one thing is certain if you ask McGlinchey about choosing to attend Notre Dame.
“In my five years there, it proved to be the best decision I ever made.”
