It was so matter-of-fact that James Halter and his family didn’t have much time to process it.
But, they quickly realized that Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph had indeed just extended an offer to Halter before the Irish’s primetime Saturday night game against Texas A&M.
“I wasn't really expecting it at that point,” said Halter, a 2027 Pennsylvania offensive lineman.
“I was just really excited.”
Halter camped at Notre Dame over the summer and Rudolph and the staff told the 6-foot-5, 270-pounder they just wanted to see some film from his junior season at Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic High School.
This is Halter’s first year as a true offensive lineman and two games of film proved sufficient for Rudolph.
Halter arrived on campus with scholarship offers from schools like Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Duke, Auburn and Arkansas among others.
But the Notre Dame offer was an important one for him, and not just because his father, Jordan, played offensive line for the Irish back in the 90s.
“The school itself really,” Halter said of what makes the Notre Dame offer so big.
“It's a great school. It has a great program, so just getting the offer is really important.”
He enjoyed his pregame chat with Rudolph.
“It was shorter, but it was still a great conversation,” Halter explained. “We just talked for a little bit.
“I think he's a great person. Every single time he texts me, he checks in on how my family's doing.”
Despite the outcome, Halter also enjoyed the game itself.
“It was great,” he said. “It was an awesome atmosphere on campus with the students and everything. The game was great to watch, but they didn't win, which kind of sucked, but it was still great.
“There was so much energy there, especially the kickoffs and the third downs. It was so loud in there.”
Halter had the opportunity to speak with the 2026 Notre Dame offensive line commits as well as some of the 2027 offensive line targets who were also in attendance.
“We were just talking and they were cool,” he said, adding that he felt he would fit in with them.
“Definitely. They're great people, all of them.”
He’ll be at Penn State in a couple of weeks for the Nittany Lions’ White Out game against Oregon. He doesn’t have any other visits set at the moment, but said he may try to return to South Bend for the Irish’s game against USC next month.
“I don't fully know yet,” he said.
He isn’t going to rush a decision.
“I think I'm just going to see how this football season goes for myself,” he said. “Then just see what happens after that.”
But he did acknowledge his opinion of Notre Dame at the moment is “very positive.”
His familial connection won’t be the deciding factor, but his own history with the school could play a role.
“It's my decision at the end of the day, but I did grow up watching them.”
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