Mike McGlinchey Brings Nastiness To Irish Offensive Line
Irish junior right tackle Mike McGlinchey likes to think he injected some nasty attributes into the offensive line in his first season as a starter.
He and sophomore left guard Quenton Nelson were the new additions on an offensive line that benefited from the additions with a strong foundation of left tackle Ronnie Stanley, right guard Steve Elmer and center Nick Martin already established.
McGlinchey will be the first to admit he has plenty of room for continued growth. Compared to last year, when he played half of the USC finale and started against LSU, however, he thinks he is much further along.
“I think it is that consistency where I’ve grown,” he said. “I’ve had struggles with that, being the same guy every day at practice. That’s the thing I’ve really tried to work on all year is to try and be that same guy and produce the same way and be the same good player every single day. I think I’ve improved in that area, but just being comfortable out there and being comfortable in my role on the team is really where I think I’ve managed to grow. I understand the game a lot more and I’m more comfortable and confident while playing it.”
McGlinchey’s approach is best described from his postgame comments after a 31-28 Irish win over LSU in last year’s Music City Bowl.
“You just line up and get ready to kick some ass,” he said.
“It helped a lot I’m sure,” McGlinchey said of his late-season playing time in 2014. “It gave me game experience and I knew then what it was like to go in and play. In terms of the kind of player I am now, it’s not even close. I’ve made a lot of improvements in the last year and it was definitely valuable to gain that experience, but at the same time the player I was then is a lot different than the player I am now.”
With Stanley off to the NFL, there’s a vacancy for the Irish at left tackle. McGlinchey is an option to switch sides of the offensive line, a storyline that will be interesting to follow this spring.
“I’m sure it would be an option. I have no decision in making that. It’s whatever the coaches decide is what I’m going to do,” he said.
Critical to his improvement has been the influence of offensive line coach Harry Hiestand. Rarely is there such unanimously glowing praise among players for a position coach like there is for Hiestand.
“He’s the greatest coach in the country,” McGlinchey said. “There’s no doubt about that in our minds. He’s set a standard at Notre Dame that it’s really impressive what he’s done and what we’re able to do because of him. He just cares so much about us and making us to be the best that we can be both as men and as players. He’s done a great job. He’s leading us on the right path and has made us into one hell of an offensive line.”
Of which McGlinchey will be a key piece in 2016.