The Notre Dame recruiting train is officially rolling as Joe Rudolph has landed a sixth offensive lineman in the class as 2026 Avon Old Farms (Conn.) star Charlie Thom has committed to the Fighting Irish.
Thom’s recruitment was a blur for Notre Dame. The Irish offered him seven days ago following a camp performance and made the decision to commit to Notre Dame following his official visit over the weekend.
“I like their OL tradition and their recent mentality,” stated Thom following his offer. “I also like Coach (Marcus) Freeman’s tenacity as a head coach.”
Notre Dame’s football prestige wasn’t the only deciding factor for the 6-foot-7, 275-pounder. The academics at Notre Dame were also a significant selling point for Thom.
“Notre Dame is a high academic institution and that’s something that’s really important to me and my family,” said Thom.
Thom will transition to the offensive line this year after playing tight end to start his prep career. Avon Old Farms head coach Jon Wholley laid out the stats at tight end from the last two seasons.
“He's a good athlete,” explained Wholley. “I think he had 450 yards receiving, five or six touchdowns last year. Over the past two football seasons, he's had like 1,000 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns.”
The transition to the offensive line will take time, but Wholley believes Thom will be just fine due to his work ethic.
“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,” Wholley 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.”
Offers: Air Force, Akron, Army, Boston College, Bowling Green, Bryant, Buffalo, UConn, Dartmouth, Delaware, James Madison, Liberty, Michigan State, Monmouth, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn, Penn State, Princeton, Rhode Island, Sacred Heart, Stanford, Stony Brook, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
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