Change of Plans Leading 2025 OL Rowan Byrne Back To Notre Dame

After initially believing he’d have to miss Notre Dame’s Grill & Chill at the end of the month, a change of plans means Rowan Byrne‍ will in fact be in South Bend on July 30th for the event.

“Originally, I was going to go to Texas A&M and then Michigan,” the 2025 New York offensive lineman explained. “But that just didn't end up working out, so it was easier to just stay in the Midwest.

“I'm going to fly into Columbus, go to Ohio State on Friday the 28th, and then drive to Michigan for the 29th and drive to Notre Dame for the 30th.”

It’s a change the Notre Dame coaches are excited about.

“They were happy,” said Byrne. “They want me to be there anytime I can get on campus, so they're really excited to have me back out.”

The 6-foot-6, 290-pounder is also excited for the change.

“I wanted to be out there anyways,” said Byrne, who landed his Irish offer during a visit to South Bend last month. “It was just kind of hard to do originally, but that's what I wanted to do. I'm happy I can get out there again.“

Byrne’s father will be visiting Notre Dame for the first time.

“I've spent four days on campus, two different times, but I've been with my mom both times,” he explained. “I'm going to be there with my dad, so he'll get to see it finally, which is going to be great.

“My dad's going to have to see wherever I'm going to go to school. It's a place I think is really special. It's a place I love. I've told him of course, but you kind of have to see it firsthand, so I think for him to see it, is going to be really big.”

The Iona Prep standout is also looking forward to making the trip for himself.

“I just like being on campus,” he said. “I love being on campus. I love being around the staff. I'm going to get to meet a lot of the commits because all of the commits are going to be there and other recruits. I think that'll be a really great thing.

“But yeah, it is big for just my dad being able to see everything. Then for me, the next step is definitely going to the Ohio State game just to see a game day atmosphere.”

Among the recruits Byrne is likely to meet during the event is fellow 2025 offensive lineman Owen Strebig‍, a Wisconsin native who is another top prospect seriously considering the Irish.

“Coach said, 'We'll definitely get you two connected,'” Byrne said of Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph. “That's going to be a really good thing for us to meet and kind of build a relationship.”

Eventually, it’ll be important for Byrne to have a good feel for the players he could be playing next to.

“It's still so early for me, so I haven't met a lot of guys,” he said. “But I do feel like coming down to it, if you were looking at a bunch of schools that were really close in terms of everything for you and there was one school where you were really close with the other offensive line commits there, I think that would push it over.

“Compared to being like a receiver or really any other position, I think offensive line, you definitely want a good relationship with all the other guys who are going to be on the line. I do think that would definitely help a lot.”

With the majority of his own games on Saturdays, Byrne won’t have many opportunities to make visits this fall, but still plans to be in South Bend for that September showdown against the Buckeyes. He’s also talked about getting to Wisconsin when the Badgers host the Buckeyes a month later.

He’s clearly still considering other schools, but Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Michigan are definitely toward the top of his list at the moment.

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