Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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did everything they could to lure the 6-5, 285-pound tackle to campus, Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hies- tand did much of the same. Hiestand, however, took a more re- served approach when it came to re- cruiting Eichenberg. He didn't pressure the lineman to commit. Instead, he told him the type of player that he could be at Notre Dame. It was a pitch, which obviously, worked. "With Coach Hiestand, from the first day that I met him, it seemed like he and I really meshed," Eichenberg said. "I love the way he coaches. He's very determined to get the best out of his players. There's just something about him and Notre Dame that made it click." While Eichenberg hesitated to admit it, what he meant to say was that Notre Dame simply fit him better than Ohio State did, and it started with Hiestand, who recruited his former teammate Jimmy Bryne out of St. Ignatius. Eichenberg played next to Bryne his sophomore season at guard, and be- came close to the upperclassman as the year progressed. He not only got to know Bryne on the field, but he also got to know him off the field. And that's where Eichenberg started to learn more about Hiestand as a coach. Bryne explained why he signed to play for Hiestand, and that set the foundation for a relationship where the current Notre Dame offensive lineman could provide advice to the rising high school senior. "He's a good dude," Eichenberg said of Bryne. "I know him pretty well. We're good friends, and I would just ask him about recruiting stuff and he would help me out. "He obviously liked Notre Dame, but he would have understood if I