Jimmy Byrne can’t wait to report to Notre Dame on June 14th.
“It’s been a long wait and I’m just enjoying the last days of high school and then moving on,” the 2014 Notre Dame offensive lineman signee from Cleveland said.
“Especially where I’m going for the reasons I’m going, to play football for the Irish, the closer it gets, the more excited I get for it.”
In the meantime, the 6-foot-4, 285-pounder is preparing for his arrival.
“I’ve been following Coach (Paul) Longo’s program since Signing Day,” Byrne said. “It’s been going really well. I’ve seen some improvements in my strength and size already. I feel my conditioning is already pretty good and we haven’t hit June yet. It’s an opportunity to get better and I’m going to take advantage of it.”
The workout plan isn’t too different from what he was already doing.
“We had a good strength and conditioning program at St. Ignatius,” he said. “There are a lot of similar things. There are some different things that I expected as part of a college strength and conditioning program.”
In addition to Longo’s workout, Byrne recently received a letter from Irish offensive line coach Harry Hiestand detailing the expectations for Byrne when he arrives.
“The big thing is coming in and getting schemes down, getting in the film room, being prepared and knowing the playbook,” Byrne said. “All of that will progress into the summer. The biggest thing is focusing on technique through film and getting to know the playbook and fronts that we’ll see.”
Byrne’s plan is to do whatever he can to help the squad this season.
“I just want to be there for the team as much as they need me,” he said. “If they need me to redshirt then I’m going to redshirt and make the most of it. I’m going to be the best practice player I can be and that’s that. If I do redshirt, I’ll have the opportunity to soak everything in for a year.
“I need to take advantage of that and I certainly won’t be disappointed either way, whether I’m redshirted or not.”
Byrne is also excited to see Notre Dame recruit a pair of his former St. Ignatius teammates, 2015 defensive end Dre’Mont Jones and 2016 offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg.
“It’s awesome,” Byrne said. “Having played with those kids and having worked a lot with Liam particularly on the offensive line, it’s great to see the same success coming his way.”
Eichenberg is planning to camp in South Bend next month.
“I think the more he gets to see it firsthand, he’ll be able to understand what I’ve been telling him all along, that Notre Dame is the place to be.”
