Notre Dame commits Javian Osborne and Ayden Pouncey strongly recruiting Pennsylvania's No. 1 player Joey O’Brien

Four-star safety Joey O’Brien has emerged as a top target for Notre Dame, which has been considered the frontrunner in his recruitment due to efforts led by head coach Marcus Freeman, defensive backs coach Mike Mickens and director of recruiting Carter Auman.

However, on Tuesday, the standout from La Salle College in Pennsylvania, told On3’s Steve Wiltfong that Oregon has now taken the lead in his recruitment. Just days after this shift, several Irish commits rallied together to bring O’Brien back into the fold.

On Friday, four-star running back commit Javian Osborne tweeted his support for landing O’Brien in South Bend.

"#WeWantJoey☘️☘️," Osborne wrote.

Expand Tweet

Four-star Notre Dame safety commit Ayden Pouncey joined Osborne with his pitch.

"Show love 🍀🍀❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️," Pouncey wrote.

Expand Tweet

Notre Dame was the third school to offer O’Brien, and its coaching staff has been persistent ever since.

“Coach Mickens, he's such a good dude and he develops people,” O’Brien told the Irish Sports Daily last month. “He literally - you see all the rankings - he is the best cornerback coach in the country, the best safety coach in the country. He is a really good guy, really down to earth.

The Irish have 16 committed players in the 2026 class, ranking No. 4 in the nation. According to On3, they still hold a 90.7% chance of landing O’Brien despite Oregon’s recent surge.

What potential does Joey O’Brien bring to Notre Dame?

Though Notre Dame has a bright safety commit in Ayden Pouncey, the Irish can't afford to overlook another standout at the position in Joey O’Brien. Hailing from the talent-rich Catholic League, O’Brien consistently dominates on both offense and defense.

“I have not seen a kid in my time here in this area like Joey,” La Salle coach Brett Gordon told Inquirer. "When you factor in everything, size, athleticism, anticipation, ability to impact a game on both sides of the ball at the level he does, I’ve never seen anyone like him."

As a junior in the 2024 season, O’Brien set a school record with 68 receptions for 1,029 yards and 12 touchdowns, while also contributing on defense by adding 36 tackles, breaking up 13 passes and snagging one interception.

O’Brien's all-around excellence earned him MVP honors in the Philadelphia Catholic League Red Division. He is the No. 1 recruit in Pennsylvania and the No. 41 recruit in the nation, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.

About the author

Maliha is a High School Sports news and listicles writer at Sportskeeda. A post graduate in Management Information Systems, it was her love for writing and sports which led her down the path of sports content creation. An experienced NBA and NFL writer, she covered the two sports extensively at SportsZion and SportsKnot before joining SportsKeeda.

Maliha is a huge Baltimore Ravens fan and is in awe of quarterback Lamar Jackson's dual-threat abilities. She also admires Tom Brady and her all-time favorite coach is 3-time Super Bowl champion Andy Reid. She is a big advocate of high school sports and believes that elite athletes reach a top level owing to the discipline, hard work, team dynamics, resilience, adaptability and self-confidence learnt by playing sports in high schools. Aaron Rodgers leading the Green Bay Packers to victory on his debut against the Minnesota Vikings is one of her fondest NFL memories.

Maliha places a high emphasis on accuracy in her content. She does thorough research, always double checks facts, and only uses information from most relevant and credible sources for her articles. When not writing, she likes to read history and biographical books.

Know More

Edited by Ribin Peter