Notre Dame lands top safety target Joey O'Brien: “The brotherhood there, it’s a well-oiled machine."

La Salle College (Pa.) Prep four-star safety Joey O’Brien has committed to Notre Dame.

A top target for head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff, O’Brien chose the Irish over his top schools in Clemson, Oregon and Penn State.

The 6-foot-4, 180-pound O’Brien visited South Bend numerous times including his official visit over the weekend.

“Just going on that official visit with the people there, the whole place, how they develop you and that degree you get there it holds so much wealth in that degree,” O’Brien explained. “I feel like my older self (would be mad at me) if i didn’t take that chance to get into Notre Dame because not everyone can.”

Tabbed by the On3 Industry as the No. 1 recruit in Pennsylvania, the No. 5 safety and No. 40 prospect overall, O’Brien becomes commit No. 19 for Notre Dame in the 2026 class and second of the day joining fellow blue-chipper Khary Adams. The culture and environment Freeman and his staff have in place is what he was looking for.

“I just love how hard they work,” O’Brien said. “The brotherhood there, it’s a well-oiled machine. I’ve been to multiple practices. I’ve been to a game. They work really hard. They get after it and they show great culture there.”

Notre Dame’s staff and recruiting class was the difference in O’Brien choosing the Irish

O’Brien looks forward to playing for Freeman and told him on Wednesday evening he was coming to play at ND.

“Just a great person. Very nice. Respectful and when he talks to you, you want to go to battle for him. We did the past the torch thing (on the official visit) and he did what he does on game day, gets you fired up, this is who I want to be, this is who I want to play for.”

Notre Dame’s defensive backs coach Mike Mickens was the lead recruiter.

“How down to earth he is,” O’Brien said. “How when he was a player he was really like that. I hear stories about him all the time. How he’d lock everyone up on the team. It’s good to go to a coach that you know is really good.”

Notre Dame’s recruiting class ranked No. 6 nationally prior to O’Brien’s commitment.

“Just the 2026 class, they were very open with me and very cool,” O’Brien said. “They treated me like a family. They treated me like a commit. It felt really good there.

“Obviously with this next class, we’re only going to keep getting better.”

O’Brien is a two-way standout that as a junior caught 68 passes for 1,029 yards and 12 touchdowns. He added 36 tackles, 13 pass breakups and an interception.