The last year has been a wild ride for Charlie Thom.
Last March, Thom held just one scholarship offer. Army.
It remained his lone opportunity until the spring evaluation period opened the door, leading to more than 10 Group of 5 offers along with Syracuse.
In June, the 6-foot-7, 274-pound offensive lineman camped at Penn State and earned an offer. Two weeks later, Thom camped at Notre Dame, left with another offer and returned to campus just days later for an official visit. Two days after that visit, Thom committed to the Fighting Irish.
“It's been a whirlwind,” Thom said. “Honestly, a year ago, I was going into a prep year hoping for the best, maybe like an Ivy League situation, FCS. Luckily, I put in the work, and I'm working out here now with all these guys. It's insane.”
Thom didn’t shake a magic wand. He put in the work and took advantage of every opportunity despite it entering the spotlight late in the recruiting cycle.
“I just worked very hard,” explained Thom. “I was very disciplined in my scheduling. I made sure I was lifting. I was lifting four times a week, doing speed training two times a week, working out with the offensive line trainer one time a week. Making sure I was committed to it and with that discipline, I guess the benefits came with it.”
The next order of business for Thom is transitioning from an under-the-radar offensive line prospect to competing for a job in Joe Rudolph’s room. This year will be about gaining weight and Thom has a short-term goal.
“I'm going to try and maintain a 280-290 range during spring ball,” said Thom. “Hopefully by the season, depending on how I feel during the spring ball, I can go up my weight, or I can just continue to maintain a 290 range."
Weight is important for Thom, but so is adding strength, which will be on Loren Landow to develop.
“I think I'm the skinniest offensive lineman in our class,” stated Thom. “I still have a lot of weight to gain, a lot of strength to put on."
When it comes to a future position, Rudolph and Thom aren’t settled on where he’ll end up long-term.
“I think it's wide-open right now,” explained Thom. “These past few football schools, I've been running at right guard and right tackle. I can play anywhere, whatever gets me on the field fastest, but I just want to kind of be a sponge and just learn every position."
Notre Dame was always the goal. Thom had been a fan for years, including hitting the road to watch the Irish play.
“My mom went here,” Thom stated. “I've been a fan forever, like I came to multiple game days. My last time, I was at the USC game this year, but I was at the Shamrock Series two years ago. I just love Notre Dame, so being able to kind of come here was a dream for me.”
Two months into his Notre Dame chapter, Thom has started to truly feel like a Notre Dame football player.
“I definitely feel that,” Thom said. “The way I've performed on the white boards and in a coaching setting when we're not on the field, I can definitely see myself picking up the plays pretty fast. Then being able to come out here and work on that when we're going against our own guys, going body on body, I definitely see I'm here for a reason."
Thom also credits Notre Dame’s strong offensive line culture for helping with the adjustment to college, but life in The Gug.
“I think it's a very tight-knit brotherhood,” said Thom. “We're always hanging out with each other. It's not just like when we're in the facility together, we're hanging out on the weekends, doing stuff after practice. We're all just kind of doing what's best for each other as well as doing what's best for ourselves."
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