Marcus Freeman and Joe Rudolph are chugging coffee this morning, because man did they ever close on a prospect that it is literally and figuratively quite large when Grayson McKeogh announced his commitment to the Irish last night. Notre Dame was in good shape with the 6″8″, 280-pound Pennsylvanian earlier in his recruitment before losing ground to Penn State – so much ground, in fact, that predictions rolled in for the Nittany Lions in recent weeks. McKeogh took his official visit to Notre Dame last weekend and his recruitment pulled an immediate U-turn, with some Happy Valley commenters utterly despondent about the rapid change. When McKeogh canceled his official visit to Texas that was scheduled for this weekend the handwriting was clearly on the wall. And that handwriting read “Play Like A Champion Today.”

Much has been made, in Irish circles certainly and I think increasingly outside of those circles as well, about the effect Freeman has had on the culture of the Notre Dame program and how much importance he puts on it. Whether it’s upperclassmen sticking it out an extra year, outbound transfers waiting for the season’s finish line, inbound transfers buying in fully despite the necessarily mercenary nature of their relationship with the program, it’s clear that Freeman has built something special and found a way to make the vast majority of his players feel that it’s special as well. That’s no small feat in any era, but in the NIL and free transfer era it’s particularly noteworthy. While he might not choose those exact words it seems like McKeogh felt it too, based on this quote from an ISD article (free) on his commitment:

“I want to go somewhere where I’m going to be comfortable,” said McKeogh. “I always hear, ‘You are who you surround yourself with.’ And if I’m surrounding myself with guys I trust and who I can be myself with and with guys who want the same thing as me and just want to work hard, then I feel like that’s where I’m going to be comfortable the most.”

He felt comfortable with the players at Penn State during an official visit a week prior, but getting around the guys in South Bend pushed the Irish over the top.

“I spent most of the time with the o-line guys, but even all the commits, literally all of them, all the guys that were there were just such great guys,” said McKeogh.

McKeogh wasn’t the only official visitor last weekend who glowed about the program afterwards. The next couple of weeks could be a very fun time – like, a very fun time – for Irish fans. Stay tuned.

Oh, also, Grayson did this:

Recruiting Service Rankings

247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9096 rating), #262 overall, #20 OT, #7 in PA

On3 Consensus — 4 star (90.08 rating), #278 overall, #21 OT, #8 in PA

The 247 Composite and On3 Consensus both combine 247, On3, Rivals, and ESPN rankings.

247Sports — 3 star (89 rating), NR overall, #31 OT, #14 in PA

On3 — 4 star (90 rating), #181 overall, #16 OT, #5 in PA

Rivals — 4 star (5.8 rating), #210 overall, #23 OT, #4 in PA

ESPN — 3 star (79 rating), NR overall, #43 OT, #14 in PA

Friend of the Stripes Jamie Uyeyama does the recruit evaluations for ISD, and we trust his evals as much as anyone’s. So while the 247 Composite and the On3 Consensus don’t factor in ISD evals, we put a lot of weight on them ourselves.

Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (90 rating)

Note: ISD only ranks the top 50 prospects in each class, and hasn’t ranked 2026 yet. Based on past classes a 95 rating would be the bottom end of their top 50.

Cohort

McKeogh rounds out his set of 2024-25 CFB semifinalist offers with Ohio State. In addition to those four he holds offers from Alabama, Duke, Florida, Michigan State, Missouri, Stanford, and Wisconsin, among many others.

Highlights

Probably notable that my first “oh bleep” moment watching this came on a defensive play, at the 0:28 mark. McKeogh is in at defensive end (lol, imagine being an average high school offensive tackle and having a 6’8″ dude lined up on the edge). He and the linebacker next to him come clean, the linebacker tips the pass, and McKeogh makes a very Tuitt-esque diving interception. That is exceptional agility and body control at his size. Wow. Not surprisingly, he looks really good on the move as a blocker, as you can tell from the very first play on the reel. He’s very fluid in space and he hunts people. As a pass blocker I think his leverage is a little inconsistent and at times he can catch people – at his size I’d love to see a much more aggressive punch out of his set, there are several plays here where his footwork is good but he waits for the rusher to get into him. I don’t think the kid that pulled that backflip will have any trouble bending, and he has plenty of meanness as is evident in the run game. I’m sure Rudolph will be able to work with him pretty easily on both of those things. 6’8″, 280 and you can run, that’s a little harder to work into a guy.

Impact

As usual, Notre Dame is absolutely loaded on the offensive line for the near future. McKeogh will likely come in with the size to play right away but, if all goes according to plan, won’t have to. I do see all the tools there though to eventually be an elite left tackle, and I could see him starting for two or three years before becoming a high draft pick if he hits his ceiling. I think his physical tools are that good.

Welcome to the Irish family, Grayson!