Four-star OL Christ explains why he was ready for the next phase

It’s safe to say that by the time he announced his commitment a couple of weeks ago four-star Rivals250 offensive lineman Jimmy Christ was beyond ready.

And in committing to UVa, which offered him back on September 13, 2017, the Dominion standout was able to not only put the process behind him but he was also able to affirm a next step that he’s been sure of for some time.

“It’s awesome,” he said with a laugh when asked if he was glad to have his recruitment wrapped up. “It really is. The recruiting process is definitely a blessing. There’s no doubt about that. But it also gets really hard at times. I’m definitely happy to have it over with and I’m excited to be going into my senior season not worrying about it.

“My recruitment blew up a lot more than I expected,” Christ added. “But it was a good thing and I’m so thankful for it.”

Rated No. 212 in the class of 2020, Christ picked the Wahoos over Notre Dame as well as offers from a host of others including Clemson, Duke, Florida, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Stanford, and Tennessee, among others.

That his older brother Tommy is a defensive lineman at Virginia presented an interesting challenge for Christ: How does one go through the process without being drawn to the school his family knows so well?

“It was pretty hard honestly,” he admitted. “I’ve always liked UVa. They’ve always been at the top of my board. It was just hard for me sometimes [to keep things separate] as I went along. When we first started with things and started going on more visits, it was more unclear but even then I knew it was going to be a really hard decision. But after my official visit, I just knew. I knew it was going to be Virginia.”

His official visit, which came on the same weekend as UVa’s Spring Game, confirmed a lot for Christ about what he wanted and why he wanted it.

“I just went in thinking I wanted to get a better feel for it,” he told CavsCorner. “I knew that I was going to be committing in the next week after, so I was thinking if the visit went like I thought it would I’d have what I needed. Before the visit, I knew I wanted to pay attention to the people I was going to be around and Virginia has great people. That’s one of the big reasons why it just felt like the right place.

“It just showed me that everyone at Virginia knows me and has my best interest at heart,” he added. “They all care about me. It really just made me feel like I was at home. And that was big.”

Offensive line coach Garett Tujague has obviously been recruiting the 6-foot-7, 285-pound tackle for a long time and their relationship was a big part of why Christ felt so comfortable with UVa.

“It was awesome,” he said of telling the Tujague and the other coaches his decision. “They were kind of expecting it because I told them I was going to call them back soon but he was really, really excited. We’ve known each other since I was in probably eighth grade, back when my brother was getting recruited. It was just an awesome experience to finally commit to UVa.

“He seems very patient,” Christ said of his future position coach. “He teaches people based on their learning skills and style and he just seems like a really good teacher. That’s something I really liked about Coach Tujague and UVa.”

Looking ahead, Christ doesn’t really care where he lines up. He knows he’s going to be in good hands.

“He hasn’t talked to me much about what the depth chart situation is like or anything like that but I basically know all the spots,” he said. “The important part for me is to keep working in the weight room and I’m just excited to get there.”

Christ ultimately made his decision during the visit and set things up so he could let everyone know when he was ready.

“So, that Sunday morning when we were getting ready to leave I told my parents but then I told the coaches that I was going to tell them by Tuesday,” he recalled. “Then basically I started to telling the other coaches on Sunday night that I was going to commit to UVa before I committed. I called them and they were obviously really excited before I released it on that Tuesday.”

Telling his brother, given how much he had talked about Virginia, was something he really enjoyed.

“Tommy was really excited,” Christ said with a laugh. “He’s always been pushing to try and get me to UVa and he was just really excited for me. All of my family was the same way.”

One aspect of the recruiting process is making connections with coaches and schools you won’t ultimately choose and that was true for Christ, who said telling Notre Dame that he was going to be a Wahoo was difficult.

“It was very hard,” he admitted. “I felt bad about it when I told them no. But that opens the door for another kid and I had a good relationship with Coach (Jeff) Quinn too, which is part of what made it hard. But UVa was the right fit for me.

“Coach Buck (Karl Buckwalter), my head coach, he’s going to Fauquier next year but he’s definitely helped me out a lot, helped me and brother both out a ton, with the recruiting process and everything,” Christ added. “I’m just so happy that I got to go to Dominion where he got to help me out. It worked out way better than I thought it would, honestly. It worked out for my brother too.”

As he looked back on the process, even if he’s glad it’s over, there are still plenty of positives.

“All of the people were so nice to me throughout this thing,” he said. “It could get kind of hectic, though. Like I’d have workouts and then a bunch of homework and I’d still have to call like four coaches. That could get hectic. But I’m also still really happy about it.”

And now, with that handled, he fully enters into the final phase of his high school career starting with the offseason.

“I’m just trying to become a better leader,” Christ said. “I’m trying to get more guys coming to the workouts and hanging out off the field, building that sense of brotherhood and getting stronger as a team together. And then I want to spend more time in the weight room getting stronger as well.”

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