Coach: It's 100% All The Time With OL John Olmstead

You often hear about teams and athletes flipping the proverbial switch in crucial moments, but the problem is that switch isn’t always there to flipped.

That won’t be a problem with 2019 Notre Dame offensive line commit John Olmstead‍, according to the New Jersey native’s head coach.

“It’s his motor,” St. Joseph High School head coach Rich Hilliard says. “He’s never happy. He always wants to get to that next level. His work ethic is incredible. That’s what makes him a special athlete. You can’t teach that.

“He never takes a play off.”

Hilliard has a story to illustrate that fact.

His squad was blowing a team out last season and Hilliard was working in some younger players along the line without removing all of his starters. Olmstead remained in the game to help guide the less experienced linemen.

“We try to run this counter play and John has to run behind this one guy,” Hilliard recalls. “John comes flying off the field and says, ‘Coach, you can’t run that play anymore.’ I said, ‘What’s the matter?’ He said, ‘That guy won’t get out of my way.’

“I said, ‘John, relax. We’re up 35 points and I’m trying to get this kid going.’”

But Olmstead doesn’t have an off switch or even the ability to dial it down a bit.

“It’s 100 percent all of the time,” says Hilliard. “It’s a privilege and an honor to coach a young man like him.”

He’s also a tremendous teammate.

“As a matter of fact, all of the schools that came in to recruit John, he would send the coaches down to the other kids to make sure he was looking out for them,” Hilliard explains. “He’s like the big brother and the coach on the field. He says, ‘Hey Coach, you might want to go look at this kid. He’s an up-and-comer.’

“I have a couple good linemen coming up and John already set them on the right path. That’s what kind kid he is. Very humble, well-grounded.”

Hilliard has no doubt Olmstead will do great things at Notre Dame.

“I think he’s going to do well up in South Bend,” the coach says. “All of the coaches who did come to my office from all different schools think that John is a three-year guy who is going to go off. John is very academically-oriented, his parents are very academically-oriented. They think education first, so he’s at the right place, education-wise with degrees.

“They know what they want.”

Hilliard will enjoy his final season with Olmstead.

“I wish I knew how to grow kids like this,” he laughs. “I’ve been doing this 20-something years. This will be my second one in 20 years, so they’re not very common.”

Hilliard also coach Brandon Vitabile, who went on to start 50 games on Northwestern’s offensive line while being honored as an All-Big Ten Academic performer four times.

“Actually, they’re kind of easy to coach because these kids have what you can’t teach, that’s why they’re being recruited,” says Hilliard. “They’re hungry, they know the ropes and they’re leading the show. They’re actually easier. There’s no babying these kids. They know what they want. They go to work and they’re very serious about what they do.”

While Hilliard will miss Olmstead when he moves on to college, he plans to keep close tabs on him.

“I will be at every game I possibly can to watch this kid, I really will.”