Quinn Carroll, 6-foot-6, 290-pound sophomore tackle from Edina (MN) High, is the state’s top rated prospect in the Class of 2019.
Quinn is the son of former Gophers tight end Jay Carroll (1980-83), who also played in the NFL with Minnesota and Tampa Bay. His older brother, Collin, was a long snapper at Virginia Tech (2008-11)
Carroll already has 21 offers, including from Auburn, LSU, Tennessee, USC, Florida State, Georgia and Miami, as well as eight Big 10 schools: Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin.
Carroll has recruiting trips to Alabama, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Miami and Georgia planned for late March/early April. GopherHole recently caught up with Carroll.
Gopher Hole: I think that you are up to 21 offers so far, which is very impressive. You have to be awfully proud of getting so much interest being only a sophomore.
Quinn Carroll: Yes. I am beyond blessed. I can’t take any credit for the success that I have been blessed with
Gopher Hole: How are most of the schools finding out about you? Is it through your highlights or where do you think that schools are finding out about you?
Quinn Carroll: I think through highlight tape. They will either reach out to my head coach or I’ll reach out to them, if they want me, too. The highlight tape is how they are finding me more frequently.
Gopher Hole: Minnesota has offered you under their new coaching staff, led by head coach P.J. Fleck. What has your relationship been like so far?
Quinn Carroll: We have a very strong relationship. We have met multiple times. He seems to like me very much. He’s a great guy and a great coach. I believe that his leadership and his staff can bring Minnesota to the next level.
Gopher Hole: Your father, Jay, played for the Gophers in the 80’s. What has he said about his time at Minnesota?
Quinn Carroll: He loved his time at Minnesota, but they weren’t like the greatest team and he hasn’t really been involved in the program or he hasn’t been asked to be involved in the program since then, but now with P.J. Fleck, he is more excited about the program.
Gopher Hole: Have you been to many games over the past couple of years at Minnesota, either as a possible recruit or just as a fan?
Quinn Carroll: Yes. I have never been as a recruit, but I have been as a fan multiple times with my family. We hold season tickets, so we are there pretty frequently.
Gopher Hole: Your brother played at Virginia Tech. Have you talked to him a lot about the recruiting process?
Quinn Carroll: Yes. He has been helping me a whole lot since he has been through it. He has been able to help me with how I go about getting my name out there and that kind of thing.
Gopher Hole: I know that he obviously got some looks, but he never had as much interest as you are getting. Is that something that is strange or do you tease him a little about that?
Quinn Carroll: We have got a great relationship, so we give each other a hard time. He likes to make fun of me, too, so we have a good brotherly relationship.
Gopher Hole: His former school already offered you. Did you get a chance to go to many games in Blacksburg when he was there?
Quinn Carroll: I went to one game. They played Clemson, I believe. It wasn’t the best game to go to. I just went down there.
Gopher Hole: I read that you have some trips planned to check out some of the schools later this month and early April. What are you hoping to learn during that trip?
Quinn Carroll: I am just hoping to gather more information. Right now, I have only visited about a half dozen schools, so I want to gather all the information that I need from the schools down South and a couple up North. Just getting with the coaches and building relationships. Hopefully, getting to know the players. Stuff like that, so I can make an informed decision.
Gopher Hole: I know that you are probably a long way from making your decision, but what are the main things that are going to make you pick School A over School B or C?
Quinn Carroll: I would say offensive line coach. Their conditioning. I am a religious man, myself, so a religious coach would, or a faithful man would help me make a decision, so that I know that if I need to talk to him or talk to anybody about my faith or want to engage with the team and my faith, that it is not an issue going forward, so that I can live my life the way that I am at home.
Gopher Hole: Did you get a chance to go to many college games besides the Gophers this past year?
Quinn Carroll: I was at a Michigan State game and Wisconsin and Iowa, too.
Gopher Hole: What were those experiences like?
Quinn Carroll: They were fun times. I went with all my brothers, so that is always a fun time. Having a little road trip. I got to gather information from each school and I didn’t have many offers, so my recruiting was just starting to pick up.
Gopher Hole: What schools are you hearing from besides the 21 schools that have offered you?
Quinn Carroll: Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Nebraska and Oregon. Those are the four or five that I have been talking to that have not offered me yet.
Gopher Hole: Is there any school that you would like to hear from that maybe you haven’t heard from yet?
Quinn Carroll: No, not really. I have kind of heard from all the schools that I would love to hear from. I wasn’t expecting this at all, so hearing from any school is a blessing. There is no school that I am eagerly waiting for to reach out to me or I am sending them my film and they are not responding or stuff like that.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought about what camps you might attend this summer or will you not go to many since you have gotten so many offers already. Have you thought much about that?
Quinn Carroll: I don’t believe that I will be going to many camps this summer, because I don’t want to risk injury. It is just another chance for me to risk an injury before the season. I know that I will get great coaching at each one, but I am going to carefully pick the schools that I take my camps at.
Gopher Hole: I know that you are going to visit those schools like Alabama, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Miami and Georgia in the next couple of weeks. Any schools you are going to visit besides those?
Quinn Carroll: As of now, those are the ones that I am visiting. Those are the only ones.
Gopher Hole: I know that Minnesota just started their spring practices. Have you made any plans to go down there for a practice or maybe the spring game?
Quinn Carroll: Heck, yeah. I have been talking back and forth with their coaching staff. I was at the last winter workout this previous Friday and they were talking about possibly getting me down for a spring practice or a spring game.
Gopher Hole: I don’t know how much you were hearing from the Gophers before the coaching change, but how much has the coaching change and the excitement around the program now changed your opinion about Minnesota?
Quinn Carroll: Well, it changes it drastically. I didn’t hear much. I went to a summer camp at Minnesota this past summer with the old coaching staff, but I didn’t hear much from them. They did end up offering me, but as soon as the new coaching staff came in, they were contacting me most every week and wanting me to come down for various occasions. The excitement around the program has changed also, because people have faith in P.J. Fleck and his coaching staff and they are exciting to see what he has to bring to the table with this program.
Gopher Hole: What would it mean to maybe play for the homestate school?
Quinn Carroll: It would be awesome. I haven’t made a decision yet because I still feel that I have to gather the most information that I can from each school that has been in contact with me, so that I know at the end of the day that this is where I should be and this is where I am called to be. Having everyone there, my family and my friends, that would be awesome to play for the Gophers, someday.
Gopher Hole: I don’t know if your dad has talked to you much about it, but would he love it if you went there or is he pretty open-minded about wherever you go?
Quinn Carroll: He is pretty open-minded, so is the rest of my family. They would all love if I were to be a Gopher, but they also love if I were to be whatever other school I choose to go to. They are open-minded, but they also love the Gophers.
Gopher Hole: What about Edina? Last year, you were 5-5 and play in one of the toughest conferences in the state. I know that you lose your quarterback, Brock Boltmann, who was also a good defensive player and signed with North Dakota. What are the expectations for your junior season?
Quinn Carroll: For this year, we have a new head coach. He (Derrin Lamker) was the former Osseo coach. He brings a lot of energy to the table, just as P.J. Fleck does, so I am pretty excited for this next season. We have a lot of returning talent on the defense. The whole offensive line is returning. We have got a lot of talent to have a very successful season next year.
Gopher Hole: Have you done much team-wise for workouts or getting together to lift yet?
Quinn Carroll: Yes. We have had captain’s practices and lifts together. We have those pretty frequently. We will start spring ball beginning of June.
Gopher Hole: Your dad played in the NFL with Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Is that kind of the long-range thought that you would like to do as well. Have you thought that far?
Quinn Carroll: Yes. That is the ultimate goal is to someday play in the NFL, but if it is not meant to be, it’s not meant to be. Not everybody is meant for the NFL and it is a long ways before that possibility, so I’m not quite sure yet, but that is a dream of mine.
Gopher Hole: You obviously have a lot of great opportunities no matter where you decide to go. What will it mean to play Division I football?
Quinn Carroll: It would be awesome. Just growing up as a little kid, playing Division I football was a dream and now that it has sort of become reality, it has kind of knocked me off my feet a little bit, but I am enjoying the process and I love getting to know these coaches and talking to these schools and I love the recruiting process. Playing Division I football someday will be a blast.
Gopher Hole: Have you even thought about when you might try to decide on a school? I know that it is so far away being only a sophomore. Would you try to decide before your senior season or have you even thought about that yet?
Quinn Carroll: I’m not 100% sure. I have put some thought into it, but I’d like to see these schools down South to see what they have to offer and then hopefully narrowed it down from there.