College•Eagles•More PHL•News•Unique Columns
Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons. Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons.
For more than 125 years — Notre Dame Football has been one of the most legendary programs in all of college football. From Knute Rockne to Ara Parseghian to Lou Holtz — Notre Dame has sustained Championship-caliber form for over a century. More recently though — the Fighting Irish have struggled to achieve the success of other programs on the National stage.
But all of that is changing with — you guessed it — thanks in part to a Philly connection.
Notre Dame’s freshman roster includes two talents. Joey O’Brien and offensive tackle Grayson McKeogh from La Salle College High School. Last season — McKeogh and O’Brien were part of a championship team that overtook St. Joseph’s Prep 31–20 to take home the Catholic League 6A Title and them proceeded to win a PIAA 6A State Championship defeating Pittsburgh Central Catholic.
McKeogh is a ranked as a Three-Star Prospect by ESPN and Rivals.com ranks Joey O’Brien as the top safety recruit in America.
In Head Coach Marcus Freeman’s last three seasons at Notre Dame — the team has won at least ten games each year. In 2024 — the Fighting Irish even advanced to the CFP National Championship Game before losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Last season — the Irish even recovered from an 0–2 start to finish at 10–2 but did not qualify for the College Football Playoffs.
Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Notre Dame has achieved this return to being one of top football programs in the country by finding talent from all over the country — including from Philadelphia. Notre Dame’s season last year included a 49–14 throttling of ranked Army at Yankee Stadium behind Jeremiyah Love’s 99-yard touchdown run. In 2024, Irvington, New Jersey’s Adon Shuler returned an interception thirty-six yards for the Irish to seal a win over Georgia Tech.
Last season, Shuler was once again shining for #9 Notre Dame. Against #23 Pitt, Schuler continued a great season on defense with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Pennsylvania talent has long had a positive impact on Notre Dame’s success — including Joe Montana from New Eagle, Mike McGlinchey from Philadelphia, Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack from Connellsville, and quarterback Cliff Brown. Brown won a National Championship at Notre Dame and was drafted in the seventeenth round of the 1974 Draft by the Eagles. Josh Adams from Warrington was also an Eagle.
Once again — like at hundreds of College Football Programs all over America — Philadelphia talent is making an impact.
Discover more from Philadelphia Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categorized:College Eagles More PHL News Unique Columns
