2025 DL Owen Edlen Hoping For Notre Dame Opportunity

Owen Edlen‍ has some decisions to make, but if things work out for the 2025 Indiana defensive end, his ultimate decision may not be all that difficult.

The Chesterton High School standout currently has scholarship offers to Western Michigan, Army, Air Force, Western Illinois, Yale and Brown. And, he’s been offered as a preferred walk-on by Notre Dame and Indiana.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder was in South Bend this past weekend for a visit. 

“It was awesome,” Edlen told Irish Sports Daily. “It was the best gameday visit I've been on so far. It was a really cool experience.

“There's just something about Notre Dame. It's just a special place. Whether you're there as a fan or on a visit, there's just something about it that's really special. As far as the way they handled the recruits, the presentation was incredible.”

Edlen arrived hours before kickoff and had the chance to eat, tour facilities and more.

“They gave us some presentations, basically talking about what makes it special,” said Edlen, who also got to see the Player Walk and be on the field before pregame warmups.

“It was a really, really cool overall experience. After the game, the recruits got to go into the locker room with the team and hear Coach (Marcus) Freeman's speech to the team and the ‘Here Come The Irish’ thing he does. It was really cool.”

Edlen was able to speak with defensive line coach Al Washington and defensive line assistant Nick Sebastian along with some recruiting staffers.

“They're not sure what the new NCAA rules are going to be as far as roster spots,” Edlen said. “They're not sure whether they're going to be allowed to accept preferred walk-ons or not. They're kind of preparing for both ways. If the rule goes through, obviously they won't be able to, but if the rule doesn't go through, then obviously me being there was a way to get me on a visit. We're going to keep in touch as far as what the rules are going to be.

“They said some really nice things to me. They made it clear that they were on my side, they wanted to help, they want me there. But, it's just that there are still some undecided variables as far as what those rules will look like.”

Edlen isn’t sure when the NCAA will provide clarity on scholarship limits moving forward, but has been told the new rules will be set in stone prior to December’s National Signing Day. If the Irish have room for him, it’ll be difficult for him to pass up that chance.

“Notre Dame is where I see myself,” he acknowledged. “Notre Dame has been my dream school since I was little.”

Edlen will need to work through all the details of being a walk-on with his family, including seeing if his parents will be able to help him out with tuition for the first year.

“Because I would absolutely go in with a mindset of earning a scholarship,” he said. “Because I know that I'm capable of doing so. 

“Some people have asked me, 'Why would you consider being a PWO at Notre Dame knowing you're not going to see the field that quickly, when you could go somewhere that's giving you a full-ride, knowing you'll see the field a lot quicker?'

“The way I kind of look at it is Notre Dame is peak college football. So, if I go there, even if I don't see the field as quick as I would at another school, I know that I'll be practicing every day against the best of the best recruited players, and I'll be being coached every day by the best of the best coaches. That would make me so much better being able to do that every day and then also having the opportunity to of course just help the team get better.”

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