Q&A: Rivals250 OL Jimmy Christ explains decision to flip to Penn State

Ryan Snyder: What made you want to switch to Penn State?

Jimmy Christ: Obviously, I liked Virginia a lot, but when I look back on it, I felt like I may have pressured myself into making that commitment. It came right after I took my official visit, plus my brother is there. I liked Penn State a lot. I like Coach [James] Franklin and the whole coaching staff there. They recruited me as hard as anyone. The more we started talking, I just felt more and more comfortable with making this switch. I just feel like this is the right thing for me to do.

Snyder: You committed to Virginia way back in April. When did you start talking to Penn State again? Did the conversations ever stop? Take me through the past couple of months and your talks with them.

Christ: Going back to when I was on my official visit [to Virginia], I remember Coach Franklin was texting me then, asking me to come to Penn State one more time to give them a chance and not let the Virginia visit take over my outlook on everything. I ended up committing then, so that was when it all stopped. Obviously, I didn’t come back to Penn State and I still haven’t been back up there. Every once and awhile, they’d send a text. I remember them reaching out with an edit for my birthday, things like that. But then, at the end of September or in the beginning of October, somewhere around there, Coach Franklin reached out again and just asked if anything changed with my status. So, that’s when we really started talking again. I would FaceTime them regularly and talk to all of their coaches. That was about twice a week. That’s when it really picked up again.

Snyder: I know you’re friends with a few of Penn State’s committed players. Have you been talking to those guys for awhile now? Have they been working on you?

Christ: Yeah, those relationships have been pretty cool. I had been in touch with a bunch of those guys before. A bunch of those guys were talking to me a ton before I committed to Virginia. Honestly, I felt bad telling them about my commitment to UVA because I really liked all the guys I got to know. I started talking to some of them again over the past couple of weeks, so it’s been good to catch up. Nick Dawkins is a good guy. I talk to him some. I’ve actually worked out with Curtis [Jacobs] some. We’ve trained together before. I’ve done one-on-ones with him. He’s pretty cool. There are some other guys. Golden [Achumba] was another recruit I talked to a lot.

Snyder: Coach Franklin teased your commitment during his radio show last Thursday. It got a lot fans excited. What did you think when you heard about all of that?

Christ: Honestly, it made me feel even better about what I decided. I know he was really excited about that and I felt the same way. It was funny reading some of the things on Twitter. I was showing my friends a few things. I’d say to them, ‘look, they think they’re getting a five-star receiver, but they have no idea it’s actually me.’ It was kind of funny reading everyone and seeing how much attention it got that night.

Snyder: I assume that was a big reason why you ended up just announcing Friday, right? From what I was told, the original plan was to announce at the Indiana game, then you decided to move it up to Monday. Then, it ended up just coming out Friday. Is that legit?

Christ: Yeah. When I officially announced my decommitment on Twitter, a ton of schools started reaching out. There were even a few others that I guess learned ahead of time. I know Notre Dame was reaching out on Friday. There were some other schools. But once I publicly decommitted, we decided to just announce everything that night. I didn’t want it to drag on.

Snyder: Did you talk to any other schools over the past month or two? Or was this just about Penn State?

Christ: No, I didn’t. I’m sure if I put it out there, some other schools would have contacted me, but I was just focused on Penn State.

Snyder: As you mentioned, your brother, Tommy, plays for Virginia. I’m sure he wants what’s best for you, but that’s got to be hard telling him that you’re thinking about switching up your commitment. What was that like?

Christ: He’s been super cool about it. He was always just saying that I shouldn’t let him come into this decision. At the end of the day, if I wasn’t happy there, he wouldn’t have been happy either. We need to do what’s best for both of us and he knows that. It wasn’t that hard, mainly just because he was great. It would’ve been cool playing with him, but all of my other brothers went to different schools. You have to create your own path and do what’s best for you.

Snyder: Did Penn State’s success this season impact you much?

Christ: Not really. It’s awesome that they’re playing well. I’ve enjoyed following them and I’m happy to see that they’re playing great, but it really didn’t have a big impact on why I flipped.

Snyder: This recruiting class is almost done. They have maybe one more scholarship left. How did that impact all of this? I’m sure that may have sped things up for you.

Christ: Yeah, it did. The coaches were great. They kept me in the loop with everything, but they also made it clear that I can’t wait forever. My parents also didn’t want me to drag this out long. Originally, I wanted to come on the visit this upcoming weekend and then see how I felt. Then, as we talked more, I planned on committing on the visit. Then, I realized this past Wednesday during my talk with Coach Franklin that there was no reason for me to wait this out. I told him then that I wanted to commit, but I also had to still tell Virginia before I let anything out publicly.

Snyder: So, you’ll be back on campus this weekend. I assume you’ve talked to Penn State about talking your official visit in December?

Christ: Yeah. Coach Franklin said that basically all of the committed guys are going to come up that weekend and hang out. I’m looking forward to that. It’ll be a fun weekend.

Snyder: How much did academics and things outside of football factor in all of this? Virginia is a great school academically and Penn State is also very good. It seemed like you always took academics very serious throughout this process. Also, is there any chance you’ll enroll early?

Christ: We talked about enrolling early, but I decided not to. Academics were always very important. I’m planning to major in accounting, but I wouldn’t say that it had a huge impact on my decision. I always knew that I liked these two schools and both of them were great academically. So, I just didn’t think about it too much. I knew I’d get a good education. One thing I did think about some was the alumni network. Penn State is great with that.

Snyder: Last question. Anything you’d like to say to the Penn State fans reading this? I like to give you an opportunity to say something to all the Nittany Lion fans out there.

Christ: I would just say thanks for the kind words on Twitter and that I’m excited to be a Nittany Lion. Coach Franklin and everyone on the staff are great people and great coaches. I’m excited to work with them.