Coach Can't Say Enough Good Things About Olmstead

Rich Hilliard has a plan for when John Olmstead‍ leaves St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, N.J., for South Bend, Ind., a year from now.

“We’re trying to figure out how to clone him,” the St. Joseph head coach tells Irish Sports Daily.

If that doesn’t work, Hilliard will just have to make the most out of his final season with the 2019 offensive lineman who just announced his commitment to Notre Dame.

“We’ve got John for one more year,” says Hilliard. “The expectations are very high.

“We have high hopes for this year and we have John to thank for it, we really do, up front anyway.”

Olmstead chose the Irish over his other finalists, Rutgers, Michigan, Minnesota and Ole Miss. Hilliard says Notre Dame is “fortunate” to land a player and a person of Olmstead’s caliber.

“I can’t say enough good things about John,” Olmstead explains. “Personally, I coached him as a position coach and as a head coach. John is just a humble, well-grounded young man who could get along with anybody, with any kid. He’s well-liked.

“On the field, he’s a leader in the trenches. He is the captain in the trenches, so he does know how to exercise his abilities and in a humble way. He’s just a great kid. That all comes back to his family. He has a great mom and dad. They’re very, very close and they talk about everything. He’s just a well-rounded young man.”

Hilliard will be counting on Olmstead to display that leadership this fall and is already seeing it.

“We have two other kids about his size right now, so we’re going to be pretty good up front we believe,” he says. “They’re all underclassmen and John kind of took those guys right under his wing. They’re following his workout regimen.”

Olmstead’s frame and athleticism landed him on college recruiting radars very early.

“What attracted a lot of interest and what jumps out on film is how big he is, how fast he is and he’s very agile for a big football player,” Hilliard explains. “What also attracted a lot of attention was his motor.

“They noticed he was blocking well beyond the line of scrimmage. He’s always running downfield looking for the next guy. That really caught the coaches’ eyes.”

Hilliard knows the 6-foot-6, 290-pounder still has room to improve, but he’ll leave that to the Irish coaches.

“I believe John has all of the tools,” he says. “The other coaches can find something to pick on, but as a high school player, he’s pretty complete. What he’s going to have to get used to is all of the new blocking schemes. Of course, in college, they’re calling different blocking schemes out on the line of scrimmage. He’s just going to have to get used to that.

“There’s going to be some times when coaches want to change certain things, where maybe he’s created bad habits here and there. But as far as learning the blocking schemes, John is a great student-athlete. He’s a 4.1 (GPA), so he’s a very smart kid. He’ll have no problem.”