2028 OL Joseph Frierdich Has Notre Dame At Top After Visit, Offer
Joseph Frierdich left this weekend’s visit to South Bend impressed by Notre Dame and the Irish were clearly impressed by him.
Hours after the 2028 Illinois offensive lineman completed the visit, he reported a scholarship offer from Notre Dame.
Frierdich came away with a clear sense of how he fits within the program and while it’s early, the potential for a match seems obvious.
“By far, I feel like that is my top pick, my first school,” Frierdich said after receiving the offer.
The 6-foot-7, 260-pounder spent time with head coach Marcus Freeman and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph while also touring campus and watching practice.
The interaction with the staff stood out immediately.
“We talked about how they said I had a bunch of potential and they really liked my film,” Frierdich said. “We also talked about my track achievements, which I was really glad about because they know how much I care about track.”
That attention to detail stood out to Frierdich, who is nationally ranked as a thrower, having recently recorded a discus throw of 191 feet, 9 inches.
The Carbondale Community High School standout also came away impressed with the approach of the coaching staff.
“Coach Freeman seemed like he was really into football, but also knew a lot about life,” Frierdich said. “He used life-like situations and turned them into football situations. He seemed really educated too, which I really liked.”
Rudolph made a similar impression.
“He was really cool as well,” Frierdich said. “It was easy for me to understand what he was saying and learn what he was teaching.”
The visit extended beyond football as Frierdich got a full look at campus.
“I toured the whole campus and saw some really beautiful sights,” Frierdich said. “By far that was the best campus I’ve been on.”
He has also visited Illinois and Wisconsin this spring and plans to get to Indiana and Ohio State next.
As for Notre Dame, he’s already working toward return visits this June and this fall.
“I’m going to try to get up for some camps to work with Coach Rudolph,” Frierdich said. “And hopefully go to some more practices and games.”
That next visit will give him another opportunity to evaluate the program, but his early impression is already a strong one.
“I really liked what I saw. I just want to see how the coaches are on another day.”
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