Coach | New 2026 Notre Dame OL Target Charlie Thom Checks The Boxes

When Charlie Thom‍ decided to do a postgrad year at Avon Old Farms in Connecticut, he checked plenty of boxes for Avon head coach Jon Wholley from a physical standpoint.

But it was the intangibles Thom displayed as Wholley spent more time with him that really put the former tight end on a path to be an offensive lineman at a major college program. 

After an impressive run of camps and showcases this spring, the 2026 offensive line target has taken recent official visits to Boston College and Penn State and will take an official to Notre Dame this weekend in advance of an expected decision soon.

“Obviously, he has good size and a good frame,” Wholley says. “He measured 6-6, 270, 275 pounds at the camps with a long wingspan, big arms, big frame to gain weight. I think the biggest thing is he's a very good athlete. 

“He missed the recruiting season last April through July because he had broken his ankle pretty badly. He got surgery on it and was in a cast. He was a good lacrosse player for Darien, which is one of the Top 10-15 lacrosse programs in the country. He was a lacrosse starter there for several years. He got hurt last spring playing lacrosse, so he missed recruiting.

“When he came back, he had a solid senior year as a tight end. He's a good athlete. I think he had 450 yards receiving, five or six touchdowns last year. And similar to that his junior year. Over the past two football seasons, he's had like 1,000 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns. 

“So he was obviously a good athlete who could move and knew how to block from playing tight end, but wasn't necessarily an offensive lineman.”

Since making the choice to head to Avon Old Farms, Wholley has seen true dedication from Thom.

“He's invested himself wholeheartedly into not only developing his body, but developing his skillset to become a good offensive lineman who is functional both in the run game and pass game,” the coach says. “I think he's demonstrated that at a very high level, obviously in blocking and pass-setting drills. I just think he's got a good competitiveness and toughness to him.

“On top of it, when he tested, he ran well. He ran at a 5.0 40 at both (Notre Dame and Penn State) camps, I think, 5.0, 5.1. He broad jumped 9 feet, 3 inches. I don't know if he verticalled, but he probably verticalled close to 30 inches and he ran a 4.4, 4.5 shuttle. All those are off-the-chart numbers for an offensive lineman. He's got good makeup, he's tough, he's very coachable, hard worker, and comes from a good family. And he's got good grades. So all those things, everything intangible and tangible checks off, minus film of him playing offensive lineman looking like Anthony Munoz.”

Wholley credits Thom for putting in the work, but also those who have helped put the region more on the national radar.

“I give a lot of credit to the area, the Show Day thing that we do, it gets a lot of eyeballs,” he says. “You stand on the shoulders of those that came before you. It's a saying Coach (Joe) Moorhead always said to me when I worked with him, and it's true both for me and I think for the kids. Avon had a good tradition before I got here of getting kids at high levels and we've been able to obviously increase that and magnify that. But I also think the kids in the past four or five years have gone on to colleges and done really well within college programs.

“When college coaches come back and they even see some of our kids visiting and they see Ryan (Puglisi) or Jack Hines or Owen Aliciene, some of the guys that have gone to big places, see what they look like and the production and development they've had, I think it gives confidence to them that you're going to get a good player that's going to work hard.”

Wholley also acknowledges his responsibility both to college coaches and his own future players to be honest about the potential of each of his players. 

“I try to be a straight shooter,” he says. “Everyone's going to have some tendency to advocate for their players. I also think I am as realistic and tangible-driven as I can be because I've been on the other side of it.

“But I do know if he's 6-6, 270 pounds, probably going to be 6-6, 300 pounds, if you can run 5.0, he's going to run a 5.0. That travels. I really decided like, 'Hey, I need to advocate for this kid,' as I saw him compete at a very high level at our Prep School Showcases that lead up to that Show Day.

“Just the way that I saw him compete and work and I got some good videotape of it, I really think marketing and selling that and giving the things that I think people want to see him doing it at a high level and then giving it as many people as we can now leads to a good product result.”

Wholley says Thom was fired up by the offer from the Irish.

“He was extremely excited,” the coach says. “His mother went to Notre Dame, so obviously he's got a strong affinity towards it and it's Notre Dame, so it's a big deal. He was excited. He's fired up to go visit there.”

And he anticipates Thom having a final decision quite soon.

“I would think he'd want to finish it by next week,” Wholley says. “Take a visit and then I think make a decision. 

“We saw that this temperature was rising a lot during the course of May, particularly going into, after the Show Day that we had. He was kind of skyrocketing. As I told his parents, regardless of what level he was at, he was kind of like the featured person on the Bachelor. At that point, everybody that you're going to see is going to want you. They're all going to be pretty, they're all going to have good qualities. You're going to have to discern those qualities and see what's best for him fast. All while not just trying to see if you like them or not, see whether you want to get engaged and get married to them or not. And it's going to happen fast. I think they did a good job.

“They're all great opportunities and I think he and his parents handled it extremely well. He's a humble, hardworking kid who is basically is driving an hour and a half just to come work out with our team, Skills and Drills. He was offered by Notre Dame earlier and has every reason to sit home and not do it.”

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