2019 NJ OL Olmstead Grew Up With ND As A "Dream School"
John Olmstead is one of the hottest 2019 offensive line recruits right now, having grabbed offers from North Carolina, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Temple and Nebraska this month alone to go with offers he already had from schools like Syracuse, Minnesota and Rutgers.
The 6-foot-6, 290-pounder from Metuchen, N.J., is fired up about his current status.
“It’s an amazing feeling to have all of these offers this early in the process and I’m really excited for the future,” he said.
There are a host of other schools who are also expressing interest in Olmstead as well, including Notre Dame.
“I have a few dream schools and Notre Dame was a big one since I was a little kid and it still is,” Olmstead said. “Just the tradition there, the tradition of football. That’s what I’m all about. I love the program. The football there has been good for so many years and it’s a really good program.”
The Irish did have a coach stop by Saint Joseph High School in recent weeks to check in on Olmstead.
“It felt amazing, just to think that as a sophomore, I got a visit from a Notre Dame coach,” he acknowledged.
He’s also stayed in touch with the Irish over the phone.
“Right now, it’s just from call to call. I call them, they’re not allowed to call me,” he explained. “To me, this whole process is all about relationships and you have to keep building them. They haven’t offered me yet, but hopefully they will in the future or soon. I’m real excited about that program.”
Notre Dame is hoping to get a closer look at him next month at one of their camps.
“They said they really like me,” he said of the Irish. “I’ve talked to them a few times. They want me to come to a camp this summer. I’m probably going to make it out to a camp in June, it’s the Big Man’s Challenge Camp.”
If Olmstead does make it to campus this summer, it’ll be his first trip to South Bend.
“I’d definitely like to see the campus, the facilities there and maybe meet a few players just to see how they like it and how they like the coaching staff,” he said. “Obviously, I want to meet the coaches because like I said, it’s all about the people in the program for me. That’s who you’ll be spending the next four years of your life with.”
He’s also looking forward to the opportunity to show the staff what he can do.
“I think definitely my speed for a 290-pounder,” he said of what he could display. “I’ll show them my speed and my ability to get out and run with the play.”
He’s visited Rutgers multiple times since the school is about 10 minutes from his house and also attended a Junior Day at Minnesota, where he landed his offer from the Golden Gophers. He’s expecting to make trips to some of the closer schools this summer like Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Virginia.
Olmstead said his decision will “mainly” come down to his relationships with the people at the school and within the program.
“I know some kids go for uniforms and stuff. That stuff doesn’t really do it for me. It’s all about the coaches and players. Obviously, playing time. You have to see who’s there, what grade they’re end and where I could see myself playing for four years, maybe after redshirting. For me, it’s about the people and if I can play or not.”