Notre Dame Recruiting: 4-Star Tackle John Olmstead Commits to the Irish!

John Olmstead, a four-star offensive tackle from St. Joseph High School (Metuchen, N.J.), made a verbal commitment Friday to Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

“I fell in love with the school. It’s the place to be and it’s all about feeling for me,” said the 6-foot-6, 305 pound prospect in choosing Notre Dame. “Nothing beats the tradition and the history of the football program.”

Olmstead is the fourth-best Class of 2019 prospect in New Jersey, according to 247 Sports’ Composite Rankings, the 18th best offensive tackle nationally and the 169th best overall player. Rivals has him as the top-ranked Garden State prospect.

In addition to his athletic prowess, Olmstead maintains a 4.1 grade-point average, according to MyCentralJersey.com.

He joins defensive tackles Jacob Lacey (Bowling Green, Ky.) and Hunter Spears (Sachese, Texas) and cornerback K.J. Wallace (Atlanta, Ga.) in the Irish’s now four-man Class of 2019.

In choosing the Irish, Olmstead spurned offers from the 35 other schools, including the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines and Ole Miss Rebels. His final five were the Buckeyes, Irish, Rebels, Minnesota Golden Gophers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

There’s a lot that will be written about Olmstead, but let’s focus on one important part of this commitment: The Irish got someone who Jim Harbaugh wanted.

Since Harbaugh’s hiring at Michigan on Dec. 30, 2014, Irish coach Brian Kelly has gone head-to-head with Harbaugh for 66 prospects that ultimately chose one side or another in this rivalry. Kelly has coaxed 34 of them to South Bend; 32 inexplicably picked Ann Arbor.

With Olmstead’s commitment, Kelly has now convinced more 4-stars to don blue and gold than Harbaugh has outfitted in maize and blue. It also chips into Harbaugh’s foothold in New Jersey, although he still leads 6-4 against Kelly for Garden State guys.