5-star Notre Dame commit working to help Marcus Freeman land the nation’s No. 1 RB

This summer, Marcus Freeman bested James Franklin for the No. 1 player in Pennsylvania, five-star safety Joey O’Brien. Now, after Penn State shockingly moved on from Franklin after a three-game losing streak to open Big Ten play this fall, O’Brien is working to sway more PA talent to South Bend. 

On Monday, in the wake of Franklin’s firing and many Penn State recruits de-committing or reopening their recruitment, O’Brien tagged four-star 2026 safety Matt Sieg and five-star 2027 running back Kemon Spell in a funny recruiting post on social media. 

Notre Dame could dominate Pennsylvania recruiting with Franklin gone

Pennsylvania is the most talent-rich state in the country, but there are plenty of great players who come out of the state area each year, especially the Pittsburgh area, which is considerably closer to South Bend than Philadelphia, where O’Brien hails from. 

Notre Dame already has commitments from three of the top 10 players in Pennsylvania for the 2026 class, but O’Brien is hoping his future team can add a fourth with Sieg. The McDonald, PA native is a top 200 player in the class according to 247Sports Composite Rankings and is currently the Nittany Lions’ third-highest-rated recruit. 

Spell, however, would be the real prize and the more realistic pull. Spell has connections to Notre Dame running backs coach Jajuan Seider, who began Spell’s recruitment when he was at Penn State. Seider has attempted to flip multiple former Penn State running back commits, including 2026 PA four-star Messiah Mickens, but so far, to no avail. 

Franklin’s dismissal could help Notre Dame in Mickens’ case, but it is massive for Spell as the nation’s No. 1 running back quickly de-committed from the program. Georgia has been making inroads with the 5-foot-9, 205-pound high school junior scored six touchdowns on Friday night, recently extending an offer and scheduling a visit, but it’s still hard not to consider Notre Dame as the likely favorite. 

Freeman has established a reputation as a dominant recruiter, currently holding the No. 4 class in the country. He had already plucked several recruits out of typical Penn State hotbeds, PA recruits like O’Brien, Grayson McKeogh, and Tyler Merril, but 2026 four-star cornerback Khary Adams, a Maryland native. Now, he has a chance to gain even more ground on Penn State after keeping the Nittany Lions out of the national championship game last season. 

Notre Dame owns Penn State right now, and that’s probably why rumors have started about a desperate attempt from the school’s athletic director, Pat Kraft, to pry Freeman away from South Bend.