2026 OL Commit Sullivan Garvin Previews Notre Dame Return
With spring practice set to kick off, Notre Dame is making plans to host some of their top targets and commits back in South Bend.
On March 26th, the Irish are hoping to get their trio of 2026 offensive line commits back to campus in Sullivan Garvin, Ben Nichols and Tyler Merrill.
“That's going to be cool,” Garvin says. “That's the plan.
“I think it'll just be more time with my brothers, basically. Just more time to strengthen our relationships and get closer and just keep strengthening the o-line class and the 26 class in general.”
Garvin, Nichols and Merrill have already been building their relationships.
“We all really like each other outside of football, so it's always nice to be close,” he says. “We've got a group chat on Snapchat. We talk pretty frequently. It's pretty cool.”
Garvin is excited to see Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph in action again.
“I've been to a spring practice before, so I do kind of know how he coaches,” he says. “I love watching him coach because then, I can imagine myself there in a year really. I like just watching him coach, watching the guys work, everything football-related, I love.”
The Irish are looking for at least one more offensive lineman to add to their 2026 haul and Garvin has his sights set on one in particular.
“Most of all, I would say Greg Patrick,” says Garvin, who has been working with Patrick and Patrick’s father this offseason.
“I've been training with him once a week. That's probably the guy I've been reaching out to most, just because he is local, I see him the most and he's a great football player.”
But Garvin isn’t making any hard salespitches.
“It's kind of just like little jabs,” he says. “Whenever we're training, whenever we get a picture together, it's like, 'Hey, this could be us in a year if we're all in the same class.' Just stuff like that.
“I try to sell him on Coach Rudolph and (Marcus) Freeman, how everyone wants to play for Coach Freeman. He definitely is interested in Notre Dame, but he is pretty quiet about all things recruiting, so I'm just doing my part.”
Either way, Garvin is excited about the improvements he’s made so far this offseason.
“The things we mainly work on is all run game pass game, but one thing in pass game is my posture. I've seen a lot of improvement with these sessions and my posture and pass protection and my pad level and just new techniques and run blocking that I'm really liking and getting more comfortable with and just growing a lot.”
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