Notre Dame’s Tight End Pedigree Stands Out To New Four-Star Offer
Notre Dame extended a new tight end offer in the 2021 class on Tuesday night.
Littleton (Colo.) Heritage’s Erik Olsen, a four-star talent, was the recipient of the good news from Notre Dame tight ends coach John McNulty. The two parties got in contact a couple of weeks ago.
Based on what McNulty was telling him, Olsen felt that an offer from the Irish may come, and he was excited to get the call Tuesday.
“Obviously, they offer a great education,” Olsen told BlueandGold.com just moments after receiving the offer. “They are a tight end factory, the best in the country. If I’m looking to get drafted, that’s the place I’m going. I know they produce a lot of tight ends.”
Olsen can count on one hand the number of times he has spoken with McNulty, and the Irish coach has already made a good impression on the 6-5, 235-pounder.
“He seems like a super great guy, really down to earth,” Olsen said. “He really loves football and has coached a lot of positions. He’s a cool guy and easy to talk to.”
On April 19, Olsen announced a top 10 list of Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Nebraska, Stanford, UCLA, Utah and Washington. One would reasonably assume that the Irish offer puts them right in the mix of his recruitment.
As far as his decision timeline goes, Olsen hoped to take spring official visits and make a summer commitment, but the dead period enacted by the NCAA due to the coronavirus pandemic is set to run through July 31.
“Obviously I can’t [take official visits],” Olsen noted. “I’m not sure when I’m going to commit. It might still be before my senior season, it might be after my season. I’m not sure yet; I’ll just have to feel it out and see what everyone else is doing.
“I also don’t want to lose my spot on a team I want to go to and regret that down the road. I don’t want to rush my decision and end up regretting that either. I’m just seeing how I feel, narrowing it down and going from there.”
Looking at depth charts at schools he is considering and the state of their tight end recruiting is a factor in Olsen’s recruitment.
“I’m going to go somewhere that I can get playing time at,” he explained. “If I’m not starting by my junior or senior season, I’m not going to get drafted.”
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly was a coach at Grand Valley State (Division II) from 1987-2003, and Irish offensive coach Jeff Quinn was with him from 1989-2003. Olsen’s offensive coordinator at Heritage High, Brandon Stultz, briefly played for GVSU under Kelly.
Heritage High School one of the best one-two punches at tight end in the country with a pair of four-star prospects in Olsen and Terrance Ferguson. Olsen caught 28 passes for 533 yards and eight touchdowns last fall, per MaxPreps.
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