Committed: Penn State flips tight end Andrew Olesh
The Penn State Nittany Lions Football team did what some thought was impossible. The team flipped top tight end target Andrew Olesh from Michigan on Friday afternoon, days after the Class of 2025 committed en mass on National Signing Day. Recruiting expert Sean Fitz sits down to talk about the journey of getting Olesh to Happy Valley in our Committed series. Check out the video embedded below or on the Blue White Illustrated YouTube Channel for the full discussion.
Penn State’s long pursuit pays off
Despite taking Virginia tight end Matt Henderson in May, Penn State did not back off its pursuit of Olesh. Head coach James Franklin spoke indirectly about the 6-5 high school wideout during a press conference in November when asked about tight ends coach Ty Howel’s ability to develop players at his position.
“We’re recruiting the best tight ends in the country. We’re developing the best tight ends in the country. It’s a competitive room. You’ve got to embrace that,” Franklin said.
Part of the recruiting issues for Olesh was that he wanted to play early in his career and was concerned about the depth chart in front of him at Penn State. Franklin’s comments were a nod to that.
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The whole two-plus minute answer felt like sitting through a Franklin recruiting pitch because it was.
“If you’re a great tight end in the country and specifically in the state of Pennsylvania, I don’t know how you couldn’t come here. Like there’s just too much history, there’s too much data, and there’s too many things saying you don’t need to go anywhere else. You can stay at home and get everything you want in terms of your college career and also setting you up for your future.”
Olesh brings recruiting prestige to class
Despite signing Henderson and Ohio athlete Brian Kortovich to the roster, both of whom are excellent athletic prospects, Olesh brings something else this class lacked. As the 43rd overall prospect in the Class of 2025, Olesh brings a high-end recruiting pedigree to a class that only had one top-100 prospect, which was a surprisingly low number for a team competing in the Big Ten Title game on Saturday. While players like five-star quarterback Matt Zollers and cornerback Brandon Finney are still misses that will sting, Olesh is a significant win. He’s now the highest-ranked player in Penn State’s class and joins tackle Malachi Goodman as a top-50 player in the On3 rankings.
