Notre Dame continues to add to their No. 1 ranked recruiting class. This time it is highly regarded offensive lineman Matty Augustine jumping aboard. The Greenwich (Conn.) Brunswick stand out is heading to South Bend along with teammate Ethan Long, who committed back in January. Augustine chose the Fighting Irish over Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State.
“Right as I stepped onto that campus I just felt a sense of belonging and family,” Augustine said. “I felt that from everyone I met – the team, coaching staff and recruits. On the academic side, I’ve grown up going to a small private school that’s really focused on academics and I feel like it’s great to be able to carry that over into college and go to such a prestigious university.
“On the football side, the coaches are the best in the country with coach Freeman leading the way and coach Rudolph is just amazing, especially seeing the way he leads that room through like meetings and practice and the culture he set up,” he said. “It’s just really cool to see whenI’m there so I can’t wait to be there.
“Seeing coach Rudolph’s coaching history like where he’s been and who he’s been able to produce, I think that’s really special,” said Augustine. “I met him back in last April and ever since then he just felt like a coach who was really open and honest in every conversation I’ve had with him. That’s something that’s really important to me – talking to a coach and knowing that he’s not going to BS you in any way. He’s going to tell you the truth. That’s why I know I’m going to be able to trust him in college, trust him in my future and trust him to develop me.
“I met Will (Black) over the summer a couple of times but he also plays in the same league as me,” he said. “I also know Owen (Strebig) really well. We’ve gotten to know each other through these visits. We text a lot. I’ve had a super strong relationship with Owen for the past year. Will and I are starting to talk a lot more now that I’m committed. It’s a really promising offensive line class. We’ve got really three really athletic, talented tackles.
“We really need to get Derek Meadows, the receiver out of Bishop Gorman,” Augustine said. “We’re definitely going to be on him heavy.”
Augustine is full of potential and could play a variety of positions on the offensive line. At 6-foo-7 and nearly 300-pounds, Augustine has the size to compete at the highest levels of college football. He has crisp technique and does a great job as a run blocker. He drives his feet, gets his hands on defenders quickly, and drives them backwards with relative ease. Augustine does a good job of using his leverage at the point of attack and, when he does get to the second and third levels of the defense, he’s able to land key blocks to spring backs for big gains. Augustine brings a basketball background to the field and that overall athleticism is easy to see when he is pass blocking. His long arms and ability to quickly adjust are major assets in this area. Augustine will need to continue to develop physically before he’s able to be relied upon on a consistent basis and his lateral quickness will be put to the test as he faces more elite defensive linemen.
Marcus Freeman and company are loading up with massive offensive linemen. Augustine measures in at 6-foot-7 and Notre Dame’s two other offensive line commits (Will Black and Owen Strebig) are at least that tall as well. The Fighting Irish were an early leader for Augustine and it was difficult for other teams to gain a strong foothold in his recruitment. Wisconsin and Michigan were the other two major contenders for his commitment but Notre Dame’s relationships with Augustine were too much for them to overcome.
