Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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68 FEBRUARY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY KYLE KELLY For 14 months, Ben Nichols knew he wanted to be at Notre Dame. On Dec. 24, the class of 2026 four-star offensive lineman from Davison (Mich.) High made it official, announcing his verbal commitment to the Fighting Irish. Nichols, On3's No. 2 player in Michi- gan and No. 17 interior offensive lineman nationally in 2026, chose Notre Dame over scholarship offers from 17 Power Four programs. Wisconsin, Tennessee and Penn State finished as finalists for On3's No. 207 overall player in the class. "I knew Notre Dame was going to be a top contender from the first couple of times I got there," Nichols told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "I still wanted to ex- plore my options a little bit. "There were a couple of schools that came close. But when it comes down to academics, the distance and the tradi- tion of a school, there's really no place that does it better than Notre Dame." The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Nichols visited Notre Dame for the first time as a rising sophomore on June 3, 2023, to participate in the program's "Lineman's Challenge" for high school football pros- pects. After that performance, the Irish identified Nichols as an offer candidate. However, under head coach Marcus Freeman and general manager Chad Bowden, Notre Dame typically does not offer scholarships to prospects until March 17 of their sophomore year for their St. Patrick's Day-themed Pot of Gold Day recruiting event. About five months before, on Oct. 14, 2023, he attended the Southern Cal ver- sus Notre Dame game in South Bend. During that visit, it became clear that the Irish would be tough to beat if they did indeed offer. They finally did on the 2024 Pot of Gold Day. This season, Nichols attended games at Notre Dame, Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Tennessee. Every school gave him a great pitch and so- lidified themselves as a contender for an official visit in the spring. But the travel wore Nichols down, and he did not want to continue it with the Irish remaining a clear-cut leader. "I had a lot of people ask me at school — teachers, coaches, friends — 'Why don't you wait until official visits,' be- cause it was pretty early in my time- line?" Nichols said. "There's no point in traveling more and visiting other schools when I know this is the school where I wanted to be." When Nichols visited South Bend dur- ing the season, he saw Notre Dame's loss to Northern Illinois in person. Still, this did not stifle his interest in the Irish. In fact, the team's response has strength- ened his belief in the coaching staff. "If you look at it now, I would have never believed anyone telling me that they lost to Northern Illinois three months ago," he said. "That's a testament to the work they've put in. Since then, they've just had a different perspective. "I bet they're going in there every day hungry, just from that loss. Now, they're on a roll. It's just fueling the fire more." Freeman has been at the forefront of reinvigorating his team's mindset to make a run to the College Football Play- off. It earned him a contract extension to stay at Notre Dame until 2030, mean- ing he'll likely be there for Nichols' en- tire career. That was a big deal. "It's awesome," he said. "He's had success since he stepped in the game. He's only proving people wrong as the season goes on. I'm very happy to have him as my head coach." Nichols is also very fond of his pri- mary recruiter, offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, noting that he has produced multiple NFL Draft picks. "That was a huge factor," he said. "If you look at what he's done, he's put so many amazing dudes in the league. He can de- velop anybody. You could be an unranked tackle going in there, and you can come out a first- or second-round pick. It's re- ally impressive how he develops players." Through three years of high school, Nichols has already developed into one of the top offensive linemen in the nation. The Michigan High School Football Coaches Association named him to its Division 1 first team this past season. He was also first-team All-Region in Divi- sion 1, Region 2. If he maintains or improves his pros- pect ranking, he will graduate from Da- vison High as the school's highest-rated football recruit. The last was three-star quarterback Brendan Sullivan (Iowa), the No. 18 player in Michigan and No. 56 quarterback nationally in the 2021 cycle. Sullivan's father is Nichols' offensive line coach at Davison High. ✦ COMMITMENT PROFILE BEN NICHOLS Nichols, On3's No. 2 player in Michigan and No. 17 interior offensive lineman nationally in 2026, pledged to Notre Dame on Christmas Eve over Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Tennessee. PHOTO BY MIKE SINGER Notre Dame Lands Early Pledge From 2026 Michigan Offensive Lineman FILM ANALYSIS "We've liked Ben Nichols for the past year or so. We loved his sophomore film, and he continued to show many of the attributes and play personality we initially liked on his junior film. "For starters, he is a bull on contact and hyperphysical. He moves defensive linemen, is a nasty finisher and plays with a physical edge. We value these things when evaluating offensive linemen, especially on the interior. He's a solid athlete who can continue to improve on that front, but in terms of how he plays, he's got an attitude, and the film is fun to watch. "He moves well to the second level, has a good punch and pop in his hands, and plays with good pad level. "From a size perspective, he projects on the interior. I would imagine that he's likely a guard at Notre Dame. From the attitude and play personality, he fits what Notre Dame likes to do on the interior. Going into Michigan and getting a blue-chip interior offensive lineman early this cycle is a nice win for Notre Dame. He was highly recruited." — On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power