Notre Dame hopes to keep raiding Penn State’s WPIAL pipeline with 4-star flip

Notre Dame football recruiting has had a ton of success, taking aim at Penn State. Marcus Freeman's squad is doing it again this weekend when they're poised to host Nittany Lions commit Matt Sieg.

Sieg, like Fighting Irish target Kemon Spell, is from the WPIAL, which in the past has been one heck of a network for PSU to pull from. However, with James Franklin no longer leading the push, plenty of other schools have started to get a foot in the door.

Marcus Freeman keeps raiding Penn State’s WPIAL pipeline

For Notre Dame, that foot in the door includes hosting Matt Sieg for its game against Navy this weekend. Rivals analyst Kyle Kelly announced the 4-star safety will take in the sights of South Bend, while Sieg also shared that he'd "always liked" the Fighting Irish.

Back in February, the Irish made their first move for Sieg, offering a scholarship to the Rivals Industry Ranking's No. 6 recruit in Pennsylvania and No. 19 safety nationally. But Sieg had been verbally committed to Penn State for almost four months and had no interest in looking elsewhere. That was until the Nittany Lions fired James Franklin on October 12.

Notre Dame analyst Jevaughn Codlin called Sieg after Franklin's firing to see if there might be any interest in the Irish. Though the safety is still committed to Penn State, it seems likely that's more of a placeholder until something better comes along.

There is also one potential in for the Irish when it comes to prying Sieg away from Penn State. He's good friends with an ND commit, Joey O'Brien, who also hails from Pennsylvania.

Notre Dame will try to push hard for Matt Sieg when he comes to watch Notre Dame play against Navy. It's possible there could finally be a switch for the 2026 prospect once he sees South Bend up close and personal.