Family Ties Add Excitement To Notre Dame Offer For 2023 Blocker TJ Shanahan
Just days after landing an offer from Notre Dame, Orlando (Fla.) Timber Creek offensive lineman TJ Shanahan is still reeling from the excitement. Shanahan, who comes from a long line of Notre Dame fans in his family, has more than paid attention to the Fighting Irish growing up, and now the 2023 standout has a scholarship to play football at the program.
“I was really excited to get the offer,” Shanahan told Irish Breakdown. “I really like Notre Dame. My grandpa was a Notre Dame fan. All my uncles like Notre Dame. My dad is a big Notre Dame fan, and from what I know, Notre Dame is like Offensive Line University, so I was very pumped to get that offer. My grandpa, he was a very big Notre Dame fan. My grandma is too. She was definitely glad to hear they finally offered me.”
Measured at 6-5 and 300 pounds, Shanahan has amassed over 30 offers in the past year, but he has been unable to visit a majority of these programs. Notre Dame, however, is one campus that he's already visited, and he was very impressed with the introductory conversation he had with offensive line coach Jeff Quinn.
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“We talked for about 30 minutes,” Shanahan said. “It was a great conversation -- one of the best first conversations I've had with a coach out of all the coaches I've spoken with. He sounded like a great guy.
"He said a lot of things that I like to hear personally, and one of the things I really like bout Notre Dame is the faith aspect of things because I'm Catholic," continued Shanahan. "I believe in God. They are very big on that too, and that kind of stands out to me as well. I just heard a lot of good things he said, like he's developed a lot of offensive line prospects that go to the next level. That's very big on my part and one of the things I look at when choosing a school. I liked everything he said about recruiting, what he's doing at Notre Dame and the things that he plans to do.”
In addition to his previous visit to South Bend, the new Notre Dame offer recipient has camped at Penn State and Michigan State. Once the dead period ends, he would like to make trips to a host of schools with the Fighting Irish firmly on that list.
“I would definitely check out a lot of local places, like UCF is right down the street. Notre Dame would definitely be one of the schools,” Shanahan confirmed. “They're definitely one of the the first places I'd like to visit but also schools like Georgia, Florida, Alabama and then if I can go out to the West coast Stanford, USC and Oregon.”
As one of the fastest rising offensive linemen in the '23 cycle, Shanahan says that the vast majority of his offers are to play tackle at the next level, but he is open to slotting in anywhere on the line if it will help his future team. That type of commitment is part of what has helped Shanahan succeed on the field thus far, and he is committing to continuing his development this Fall by working hard during the offseason.
“[I'm] getting stronger, staying in the weight room and working on my technique as a whole,” Shanahan explained. “I'm jump roping too to keep my feet fast. I'm working on my kick step and keeping fast hands, so hopefully I can go out there and show everybody that I'm the aggressive player you saw on film last year and the season before that.”
In the coming months, Shanahan is sure to add more offers to his growing total, but so far Notre Dame has put itself in a good position for the powerful blocker going forward.
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