Gino Guidugli gave Malachi Zeigler a preview of what to expect immediately after the 2027 Louisiana quarterback departed Notre Dame following a multi-day visit to South Bend this week.
“Coach Gino was telling us, ‘When you leave, there’ll be a feeling in your chest about how it felt,’” Zeigler recalled.
“He said, ‘You’ll either love it, you’ll hate it, or you’ll feel indifferent. But there’ll be a feeling.’ He said, ‘Don’t ignore that feeling.’”
Zeigler did not ignore it.
“There is definitely a feeling,” the Benton, La., quarterback acknowledged. “There is definitely a feeling. I really enjoyed it. It’s a good feeling.”
The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder has early offers from schools like Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma State, TCU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, SMU and Houston among others.
He got to see plenty during his time on campus Thursday and Friday.
“I got to see pretty much everything about Notre Dame,” he said. “They gave me a tour around their facilities, saw gameday ;ockers, saw their Stadium, saw Touchdown Jesus, saw the Golden Dome, got a tour of their facilities, the workout facilities. I pretty much saw everything.
“I really liked it. The vibe of the campus is majestic in a way, if that makes sense. It’s like this feeling of greatness, for lack of a better terminology. It’s just different.”
Guidugli has been a big part of his interest in Notre Dame from the start and they were together plenty this week.
“Coach Gino is a really cool guy,” Zeigler said. “In terms of coaches, we probably spent the most time with him, my parents and I, and it was just great. He’s really down to earth. He’ll have a conversation with you. I got to sit in on QB meetings, my dad and I. It was really cool. He had lunch with us. It was really cool. He’s a cool guy.”
Zeigler and his parents had a lengthy chat with head coach Marcus Freeman on Thursday.
“We had probably a 30-minute to an hour-long conversation,” Zeigler said. “It was a super long conversation about everything. We were talking about the importance of education and just how much a degree from Notre Dame means outside of football.
“We got around to just the connections you make because your roommate at Notre Dame might be the CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation in 10 years. You won’t know him as a CEO, you’ll know him as a friend. Cool stuff like that. Once we got to the football aspect of it, it’s almost like he had said, you get the best of both worlds. With most schools, you either go there for a good education or you go there to compete for a national championship. But at Notre Dame, especially after last year, you get the best of both worlds.”
On Friday, he spent a lot of time with Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.
“We got to sit down and have a meeting with him, spend a little time with him during and after spring practice,” said Zeigler. “Coach Denbrock is really cool. I like him. He’s funny. He knows how to laugh.”
Zeigler is visiting Michigan on Saturday, but before he left, Denbrock and Guidugli laid out their plans for when they’ll be offering quarterbacks in the Class of 2027.
“They said they’ll come down for spring,” Zeigler explained. “I plan to get back out there either over the Summer or in the Fall.
“I don’t consider it my job to try and rush them. They’re busy guys. They’ve got some big stuff and they’re doing huge things in Notre Dame right now. I think it’s just my job to make them question why not offer me. I’ve got to give them a good reason to pull the trigger. So that’s what I’m working on doing every day.”
