More Story: Carlyle Holiday still owns QB mentality

Yesterday, we published a story on former Notre Dame quarterback-turned-receiver Carlyle Holiday, whose passion for the game has endured both a position switch and career move.

Holiday had a lot to say, and not all of it was included in the initial story. Here are some more noteworthy comments from the Irish alum.

Carlyle Holiday

On Notre Dame's alumni networking:

“It’s amazing. Whatever city I went to, wherever I was, even when I didn’t know what I wanted to do yet, there was just so many folks that I knew that I could reach out to. It’s crazy. Even now that I’ve been a recruiter for this long and I see the network of people that are around you in every state…it’s crazy.”

On his decision not to transfer after losing the starting quarterback job to Brady Quinn in 2003:

“I think after playing there a couple years, you’re just like, ‘I just never want to leave this place.' I guess that’s my feeling. Other folks have different opinions. Playing there and seeing everything it had to offer, I don’t know if I could ever leave this place to go play somewhere else. It’s just not the same experience. For the people who have played there, the experience is what you want to be your lasting impression of college football. That was why I stuck around.”

On his first impressions of Brady Quinn:

“When he first came in, I actually thought he was a huge linebacker coming in. He joined us in the summer and was pushing sleds. I was thinking, ‘Who’s that kid?’ ‘Oh, that’s Brady.’ He was a big guy. You could see how hard he was working, even as a young kid – how hard he worked, how he studied, how he viewed film and the playbook and the questions that he asked. You could see that he was someone who was really ready and willing to step in whenever, at a young age.

"You always feel that you can play better than the next person. And if you don’t, you shouldn’t be playing. But at the same time, you just want to win, and you always feel like the coach is going to make the right decision as far as who’s better and who’s ready to start. You have to trust that instinct from the coach from the very beginning, or else it’s going to be a miserable time in college or you shouldn’t have come to that school in the first place, to tell you the truth.”

On his brief stint with the Green Bay Packers:

“Green Bay reminds me of Notre Dame in terms of the fan base and how everything kind of shuts down for that team on game day. Going to an organization like that was amazing.”

On playing with Aaron Rodgers as Brett Favre's back up:

“Seeing him as a young guy, knowing once he got the opportunity he was going to really shine, was something that was kind of amazing to see.”

On continuing to keep in touch with Notre Dame:

“I keep up with Notre Dame every season. I’ll be up there for a couple games this year. I talk to (graduate student linebacker) Joe Schmidt all the time. He’s someone who’s thinking about life after football. I love the program. I love the coaches. Every other year, I’ll go to coach Kelly’s fantasy camp to help out if I can. I still definitely keep up with the program. That’s something that I’m still very passionate about.”

On his memorable moments at Notre Dame:

“My first USC game at Notre Dame Stadium was one of my favorite games. I turned the ball over a bunch, but we won. It was that first USC-Notre Dame experience that I had where I played a major role in it.”

On his advice for potential recruits:

“Go to Notre Dame. Every Catholic in America will recognize you.”

On his first impression of Malik Zaire:

“I watched Zaire play, and from the first time I saw him play in a real game I thought, ‘This guy’s got a lot of talent.’”

On high expectations for the 2015 season:

“Everyone I talk to from the team says the same thing: this is the best team they’ve been on since they’ve been in college. I expect a lot of great things out of them, and I think coach Kelly expects the same. I feel a lot of positive things happening for this team this year.”