National Signing Day: Five-star safety Joey O'Brien signs with Notre Dame football

Rivals’ No. 1 safety recruit in the 2026 class has signed with the Fighting Irish. On Wednesday’s National Signing Day, the Notre Dame football communications team officially announced the addition of Wyndmoor (Pa.) La Salle College senior Joey O’Brien.

Also Rivals’ No. 25 overall player nationally and No. 3 prospect in Pennsylvania, O’Brien verbally committed to the Irish on June 20. He chose Notre Dame over 24 Power Four programs, including a finalist group that featured Clemson, Penn State and Oregon. Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State also offered him.

According to the Rivals Industry Ranking — a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from the three primary recruiting media services — O’Brien is a five-star recruit who ranks as the No. 31 player nationally. He’s one of four Rivals Industry Ranking five-star prospects in Notre Dame’s 2026 class.

O’Brien also attends the same school as Irish offensive tackle commit Grayson McKeogh. In Rivals’ rankings, McKeogh is the No. 9 overall player, the No. 3 offensive tackle nationally and a five-star recruit. The Industry Ranking slots McKeogh at No. 116 overall.

O’Brien pledged to the Irish two days after McKeogh and seven days after the start of their one allotted Notre Dame official visit. When O’Brien announced in the Irish’s favor, his decision marked one of the program’s marquee recruiting victories in the Marcus Freeman era — and it almost didn’t happen.

“I truly think that if I didn’t go the week before (my announcement), I may not have committed to Notre Dame,” O’Brien told Blue & Gold recruiting insider Mike Singer last July. “And I wouldn’t have hung out with all those guys and gotten that feeling when I was there.

“I was set on Oregon after my official visit there. I was thinking, ‘Notre Dame has been there since the beginning — let me be respectful, give them their visit and I’ll go to Oregon after.’ But literally the first night on my Notre Dame OV, it all changed. I was like, ‘Wow, this place is amazing.’”

Irish defensive backs coach Mike Mickens served as O’Brien’s primary recruiter, though many others in the program played major roles. None was bigger than director of recruiting Carter Auman.

“Carter was big,” O’Brien’s father told Blue & Gold last June. “Since Pot of Gold Day, Carter has been great. He and Joey talk all the time. They’re like brothers. It would have been hard not to go to Notre Dame, having to tell Carter we picked another school. That would have been just awful. I don’t think Joey could have done it, to be honest.”

Notre Dame offered O’Brien during its St. Patrick’s Day–themed Pot of Gold Day event March 17. Since then, he has developed into one of the country’s most coveted prospects after dominating for his high school team and on the 7-on-7 circuit.

This season, the two-time Philadelphia Catholic League MVP has helped La Salle College (12-1) reach the Pennsylvania Class 6A championship game by playing a major role on both sides of the ball. La Salle faces Pittsburgh Central Catholic on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. at Mechanicsburg (Pa.) Cumberland Valley.

Defensively, O’Brien has 48 tackles (34 solo), 1 stop for loss and 11 pass breakups through 13 games. He has also contributed to several turnovers, including 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, 2 forced fumbles and a punt block.

On offense, he has been especially impactful. O’Brien has posted 76 catches for 1,148 yards and 18 touchdowns. Depending on how fast he picks up the Notre Dame defense, he could also see snaps at wide receiver — a talking point with receivers coach Mike Brown since his official visit.