"I would be the guy that would round out the offensive line class": Four-star IOL reveals Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame pitch

Four-star Gregory Patrick is one of the top interior offensive line prospects on Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph’s priority list. The 2026 recruit from Portage Northern High School in Michigan visited South Bend on Friday to get a closer look at Marcus Freeman’s program.

A key highlight of Patrick’s visit was the chance to speak with current players like Aamil Wagner, Anthonie Knapp and Owen Strebig to hear their perspectives.

"They provided really good insight," Patrick told Irish Sports Daily afterward. "They all have the same mindset , that it is for the better and they're going to get better because of it. Hearing them talk about that and how the culture's changed a little bit in the room, how Coach Rudolph has changed it for the better a little bit since he's gotten there."

Patrick is the No. 2 recruit in Michigan and the No. 10 interior offensive lineman in the 2026 class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. Freeman made it clear how important Patrick could be to their plans.

"I would be the guy that would round out the offensive line class perfectly," Patrick told Rivals about Freeman's message.

The latest trip to South Bend was the seventh ND visit for the 6-foot-5, 275-pound prospect.

"The people in the program are what make the culture," Patrick told On3. "I really aligned with what they talk about and how they go about their business."

Freeman and Co. already have three interior offensive linemen in the 2026 class: Tyler Merrill, Ben Nichols and Sullivan Garvin, all of whom are four-star prospects. The cycle has eight committed players and ranks No. 8 in the nation.

Notre Dame makes Gregory Patrick's top 4

Gregory Patrick has narrowed his choices down to four schools: Michigan, Notre Dame, Michigan State and Penn State. He plans to take official visits to each, starting with Penn State on May 30, then Michigan State on June 6, Notre Dame on June 13 and Michigan on June 20.

“I'm using the official visits as kind of a closing, like, 'OK, yeah, this is totally legit. This confirms what I thought about it,'" Patrick told the Irish Sports Daily.“The official visits will be important for that.”

Notre Dame could be a dark horse in his recruitment, as Patrick frequently trains with two of its current interior offensive line commits, Ben Nichols and Sullivan Garvin. After this week’s visit, he also told 247Sports that the Irish set themselves apart from the rest.

Michigan State is seen as the frontrunner, but Michigan is also expected to make a strong push since both are in-state options. This recruiting battle is expected to heat up as decision time approaches.