Early Signing Period: 4 Star DE NaNa Osafo-Mensah Signs With Notre Dame

There are a handful of “must gets” in every recruiting cycle for every team in the country, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are no different. One of their biggest targets was an elite defensive lineman in Texas... NaNa Osafo-Mensah.

It’s official now, as NaNa has sent in his NLI to Notre Dame this morning during the early signing period for college football.

NaNa plays with the speed, power, and passion that defensive coaches crave for their pass rush schemes. At 6’4” and 231 pounds, he has the frame to put on another 30 pounds and still be explosive off of the ball.

We have seen what a Clark Lea defense looks like with Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem on the edge, and the Irish are looking to continue that kind of performance for years to come.

Notre Dame targeted NaNa early and made a huge push this past spring for a commitment. Osafo-Mensah gave his pledge to the Irish over the Texas Longhorns and Alabama Crimson Tide. The Horns were the biggest competition, and it was a a little up in the air for a while until Notre Dame was able to lock him down.

From NaNa’s commitment:

Not only is the 6’4” 235 pound Osafo-Mensah a TRUE weakside defensive end capable of creating a pass rush, he is a TRUE student athlete and academics are exremely important to him and his parents. While that sounds like a slam dunk for Notre Dame, over the years “Big State U” (Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, etc) has done a tremendous job of making their own academic programs appear to be on the same level as the Irish.