2025 OT Matty Augustine commits to Notre Dame football, breaks down his decision

Notre Dame’s 2025 class is on a roll. On Tuesday morning, Marcus Freeman and Co. landed a commitment from Greenwich (Conn.) Brunswick School offensive tackle Matty Augustine, a major target for the Fighting Irish staff.

Augustine earned an offer from Notre Dame last June after standing out at the Lineman’s Challenge camp in South Bend and has been a frequent visitor since. He most recently made it back to campus Jan. 20 for junior day, a turning point in his recruitment.

His first visit to campus occurred last spring before he had the scholarship offer, and he felt back then that Notre Dame was the place to be.

“Right when I stepped on campus for the first time last April, I felt a sense of belonging and family,” Augustine said to Blue & Gold about committing to Notre Dame before announcing his pledge. “I grew up going to a small, private school at Brunswick my whole life. There are a lot of similarities between the two schools. They’re both small and have a family feel. I love that familiarity, and the academics at Notre Dame are amazing. Coach Freeman says it’s not a four-year decision, it’s a 40-year decision.

“Notre Dame has the best coaching staff in America with Coach Freeman leading it, and Coach [Joe] Rudolph does an amazing job with the guys in his room. I love the way he coaches his guy on and off the field and the chemistry in the offensive line room.”

Notre Dame is up to a nation-leading 17 commitments in the 2025 class, with Augustine committed, and he gives the Irish three offensive line verbals, joining Waukesha (Wis.) Catholic Memorial’s Owen Strebig and Wallingford (Conn.) Choate Rosemary Hall’s Will Black.

Augustine ranks as the nation’s No. 353 overall prospect and No. 25 offensive tackle according to the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking. He’s the No. 3 recruit from Connecticut.

Some notable schools on Augustine’s long offer sheet include Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, Texas A&M and Wisconsin.

Augustine goes in-depth on Notre Dame commitment

There were other schools in the mix, but Notre Dame and Wisconsin were at the top of Augustine’s list for much of his recruitment. He visited both schools in late January and in back-to-back weekends.

Even going into his Jan. 27 visit to Wisconsin, he felt that Notre Dame was going to be the school he’d commit to, but he wanted one last trip to Madison to be able to compare the universities.

“I took both visits and then Freeman came to my school [the Monday after the Wisconsin trip] and met with Ethan [Long] and me for an hour. That night, I got on the phone with Coach Freeman and had another hour-long conversation, talking through everything.

“There was one thing he said on that phone call that really made me want to commit. He talked about the decision he made a few years ago when he had the chance to go to LSU, which had all the glitz and glamour of an SEC school, but he knew the whole time that Notre Dame was right. And that’s something that I was going through.”

Augustine was in awe of what Wisconsin had to offer and loved the surrounding city, but in his gut, he knew Notre Dame was the right fit for him.

“That’s what got me — thinking about things that most 17-year-old kids don’t think about — what a school can do for you after college,” he said.

He informed the Notre Dame staff Feb. 7 that he’d be committing to the Irish, and 13 days later, he announced it publicly.

Augustine’s “silent commitment” to Notre Dame took place one day before Strebig publicly pledged to the Irish, but of course, Strebig had his own private pledge to the staff in advance of his commitment date, too, which Augustine was aware of. With Notre Dame’s offensive line class quickly filling up, did Augustine feel a need to push up his recruiting timeline?

“I don’t think it played into it or made me rush a decision,” he answered. “The timing just lined up perfectly. It was definitely the best decision for me.”

Augustine and Black play in the same league in Connecticut and have gotten much closer in the past couple of weeks since Augustine gave his private commitment. And Augustine and Strebig have become very good friends over the past several months after seeing each other on so many visits. They talk on a daily basis.

Another Notre Dame commit whom Augustine is tight with is Long, who plays with Augustine at Brunswick School. Long lives at Augustine’s home during the school week.

“I’ve seen how much happier he’s been since he committed to Notre Dame — knowing that he’s going to a place that he really loves,” Augustine said of Long. “He was really excited when I told him I was committing. He’s super stoked.”

Augustine, who stands at 6-7, notes that he ended the football season around 275-280 pounds and surprisingly has added some mass during his basketball season. He reports that he weighs in at about 285-290 pounds.

“With my background of playing basketball, I’m athletic for my size,” Augustine said. “They (the Notre Dame coaches) love that about me.”

Augustine was named to the All-New England Preparatory School Athletic Council first-team and the New England Prep Football Conference first-team all-league for his efforts in 2023. He was a second-team all-league performer as a sophomore in 2022.