2026 OL Grayson McKeogh Goes In-Depth On Notre Dame Commitment

Grayson McKeogh‍ came into last week’s official visit knowing what he needed to see from Notre Dame.

The 2026 Pennsylvania offensive lineman saw that and much more. 

“I definitely think it exceeded my expectations,” McKeogh told Irish Sports Daily.

That’s what led to the 6-foot-8, 280-pounder announcing his commitment to Notre Dame over Penn State, Texas and other schools on Wednesday.

“It's definitely just the spot that I feel like I'm most comfortable and the spot that I feel like I can thrive the most in while enjoying playing there,” he said prior to making his announcement public.

Last weekend’s official visit sealed the decision for McKeogh.

“I was coming to see who the players are, what they do and all that kind of stuff,” he said.

“I got to spend a lot of time with those players and I got to spend a lot of time with the commits as well. Those commits are just such great guys and guys I would love to spend the next couple years around. So that was definitely the biggest thing.”

McKeogh took an unofficial visit to South Bend shortly after being offered by the Irish earlier in the spring. By the start of this month, he had already checked the athletic and academic boxes at his finalists. Getting a feel for the players on the roster was the final box. 

“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.

That may have been the main thing McKeogh wanted to see during the official, but it certainly wasn’t the only thing he was shown.

“I think the biggest thing that I didn't really take into account was just their tradition,” he said. “Yeah, it's cool to play there, but I think it's also an honor to play there. The program has had many great traditions and just the entire show that they put on displaying that tradition was just really something that I didn't expect to see a lot of, but I definitely did.”

Head coach Marcus Freeman’s message also hit home with McKeogh.

“He really just expressed how much he thinks I fit into the program and how much they value me there,” McKeogh explained. “Just the fact that he feels I'm a Notre Dame player and they're going to offer everything that I'm looking for and I'd just be a great fit there.”

Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph had a similar message.

“He expressed, 'I've been around it long enough to know that you're a guy that would fit in really well here,’” McKeogh said of Rudolph. 

McKeogh said having the recruiting process finished was a “relief.”

“Just having the season to focus on and just focus on getting better now.”

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