Why it’s a new era for the Notre Dame offensive line led by Joe Rudolph

This story appears in the Blue & Gold Illustrated 2024 Notre Dame Football Preview. To order your copy of the 160-page, full-color, glossy magazine, which includes opponent previews, Fighting Irish position previews and position previews like this one, click here .

This is Part 1 in a four-part series previewing the Notre Dame offensive line.

Gerad Parker had one of the top quotes from any Notre Dame player or coach in 2022, his first season on Marcus Freeman ’s staff as the Fighting Irish tight ends coach. He said his job was made so much easier by being able to run Michael Mayer onto the field and just letting him do his thing.

Joe Rudolph would probably say the same about Joe Alt .

Rudolph didn’t come into much scrutiny in his first season as Notre Dame’s offensive line coach in 2023. It helped to have Alt, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. It also helped to have Blake Fisher , the 59th overall pick in the draft, and a five-year veteran in Zeke Correll , a two-year starting center.

Rudolph has none of that now. Ask Parker what happened after Mayer left. Notre Dame didn’t have a surefire No. 1 tight end until Mayer’s understudy, Mitchell Evans , emerged as one against Ohio State in late September. Parker deserves some credit for that, sure, but it’s worth noting the tight ends in addition to Evans did not do a whole lot from a productivity standpoint.

So, here’s Rudolph in an eerily similar situation to that of Parker a year ago. No Alt. No Fisher. No Correll. Just a bunch of players at some of the most important positions on the field who have not played a ton of football at this level.

Rudolph is viewed in a nice light by his peers for what he did in a seven-year stint at Wisconsin — produce one NFL Draft pick per each of those seasons. The pressure is on him to keep pumping products into the NFL from Notre Dame. Of the current crop of offensive linemen, none of them are being pegged as shoe-ins at the next level.

Rudolph likes what he’s working with in them, though, and he has the utmost confidence that the next Alt and Fisher are on the roster.

“It’s a tremendous group of young men,” Rudolph said. “Smart, hard-working. They care a ton about Notre Dame. They care a ton about being offensive linemen at Notre Dame. They care a ton about each other. I think that is a great foundation on which to work from.

“They take pride in the fact that the offensive line is a feature here. It’s a big deal to work from.”

They understand it. It’s reassuring to hear that Rudolph understands it too. He’s got a tall task ahead of him, but he’s not going in blind. He’s fully aware of what must be done.

Notre Dame Scholarship Offensive Linemen

Listed after the class year is the years of eligibility remaining.

Left Tackle

• Charles Jagusah (6-7, 330), So./1
• Sullivan Absher (6-7, 321), So./1
• Ty Chan (6-5, 327), Jr./3
• Guerby Lambert (6-7, 318), Fr./4

Left Guard

• Pat Coogan (6-5, 310), Sr./2
• Rocco Spindler (6-5, 331), Sr./2
• Peter Jones (6-5, 310), Fr./4

Center

• Ashton Craig (6-4, 308), Jr./3
• Sam Pendleton (6-4, 305), So./4
• Joe Otting (6-3, 303), So./4

Right Guard

• Billy Schrauth (6-5, 315), Jr./3
• Chris Terek (6-5, 333), So./4

Right Tackle

• Tosh Baker (6-8, 320), Gr./1
• Aamil Wagner (6-6, 290), Jr./3
• Styles Prescod (6-6, 293), Fr./4
• Anthonie Knapp (6-4, 291), Fr./4

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