A Game-Changing Decision: How Notre Dame OT Guerby Lambert developed into a five-star recruit

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, click here.

In the fall of 2020, Guerby Lambert labored up and down the West Roxbury (Mass.) Catholic Memorial athletic fields wearing shin guards with a soccer ball nestled near his feet. 

Lambert was far from the five-star offensive tackle and top-ranked prospect he became in Notre Dame football’s 2024 recruiting class. 

In fact, that Guerby Lambert did not exist four years ago. The only type of football he was concerned with contained two nets separated 120 yards apart instead of goalposts. 

Guerby’s parents — his mother, Guerline, and father, Kesner — are immigrants from Haiti. They had reservations about American football because their knowledge was limited to the perceived injury risk. With that in mind, Guerby’s parents were against their third child ever playing the sport. 

“My dad really didn’t want me to get hurt,” Guerby told Blue & Gold Illustrated in late May, ahead of his early June enrollment. “When they hear football in Haiti, they think of a brutal sport.” 

So, Lambert played soccer instead. 

That was until one of Catholic Memorial’s football coaches saw him in the hallway as a freshman. It sparked a conversation about him giving football a shot. Of course, the Lamberts had their reservations. 

“We described American football as bulls fighting,” Lambert’s father, Kesner, told Blue & Gold Illustrated. “Because Haitian people always care for their children and worry about them getting hurt.” 

In 2020, Guerby’s freshman year, contracting COVID-19 was added to the list as one of the pitfalls of playing football. In August of that year, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) deemed football, along with six other sports, a high risk of transmitting the virus. Soccer was exempt from that list, allowing it to occur during its normal fall season. 

The state of Massachusetts punted on the high school football season until the spring, giving Lambert a few months to consider transitioning sports. Finally, with the help of his athletic trainer, who is also of Haitian descent and played college football, Guerby ditched the shin guards for shoulder pads. 

“He talked to my mom about how I could end up going to college for free,” Guerby said. “Obviously, we did not think it would turn into this, but she allowed me to try it.” 

Guerline’s gamble and Kesner’s blessing gave Guerby an avenue to achieve his wildest dreams. 

“We agreed that he had to play,” Kesner said. “When we checked it out, every game had injuries — basketball, football, soccer, baseball. But we love sports. … He loved soccer.” 

Leap Of Faith

Lambert’s spring high school football season was just four games long. He recalled only playing two halves on junior varsity and two snaps on the varsity squad. But with football as the focus and a whole offseason to dedicate toward it, he was about to see his career on the gridiron soar. 

Boston College offered him his first scholarship four games into his sophomore season. Kentucky and Ohio State eventually followed suit in January 2022 before Notre Dame entered the mix on March 17, 2022. Lambert announced his Irish offer during the program’s St. Patrick’s Day-themed Pot of Gold Day recruiting event. 

“He was like a bull,” Kesner said. “I never knew my son was so dangerous when playing football. He doesn’t play around when he plays football.” 

Within the next year, 15 other power conference programs, including Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Michigan, Stanford, Penn State and Florida State, also offered Guerby. After his junior season, his June 2023 official visits came down to Boston College, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Harvard. He eventually verbally committed to the Fighting Irish on Sept. 19 and officially signed with the program three months later. 

“It had a community feel similar to Catholic Memorial,” Lambert told Blue & Gold Illustrated on Dec. 28. “The coaches are great. I love the facilities. The academics, too. I know I will get an elite education. And at the same time, I get to play elite football.” 

By February, Lambert had become among the best in his recruiting class. When On3 finalized its 2024 class prospect rankings, he slotted as the No. 1 prospect in Massachusetts, and the No. 2 offensive tackle and No. 18 overall player nationally. He was one of 32 five-star players — further proving his potential and increasing expectations. 

“He has outstanding flexibility and movement skills,” On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power said. “The biggest thing for him will be the adjustment in the uptick of competition at the Power Five level. 

“He didn’t take a ton of pass-pro reps in high school, and there’s a gray area with how he is as a pass protector. But we’re willing to bet on the physical traits, movement skills and what he put on film as a senior. He’s a nasty run blocker and athletic enough to be a plus pass protector.” 

‘Choose Hard’

Lambert’s physical presence made him a seamless fit at Notre Dame. His mental makeup is remarkable, too. 

He adopted Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman’s motto to “choose hard” long before he had the chance to play for the Fighting Irish. Lambert lives in Medway, Mass., about 20 miles from Catholic Memorial. Depending on traffic, his daily commute could take 45-60 minutes. 

He could have settled for any area high school, but Lambert chose Catholic Memorial, which is among the top prep schools in the area. 

“I chose it for the academics and the people there,” he said. “It was completely worth the drive because it was a great school. Everything I do is in that area of Boston. 

“My parents made the sacrifice because they saw I was enjoying it.” 

Lambert is close to his entire family and heavily considered remaining near them by playing for Boston College or Harvard. He lives with his parents, grandmother and three siblings. He could have easily stayed in town but accepted the life-changing opportunity to attend Notre Dame. 

“I put everything together, and I just couldn’t say no to Notre Dame,” he said. “The only negative was the distance. But I feel like that’s pretty easy to overcome. All the other schools couldn’t offer me what Notre Dame could offer me: top-level football, academics and what they do for their players after football. 

“I couldn’t reject that. The distance is worth it.” 

NFL Aspirations

It should come as little surprise that Lambert prioritizes education. He received a scholar-athlete award during his high school graduation and plans to major in engineering at Notre Dame. 

Still, the 6-foot-6, 290-pounder had an edge on Friday nights that should translate to South Bend Saturdays and, eventually, NFL Sundays. 

Lambert has come a long way from his soccer-playing days to his spot on a Notre Dame roster and, as he hopes, an NFL future, too. Former Michigan cornerback Mike Sainristil has helped him build confidence that the latter was possible after a conversation about two years ago. 

Sainristil, a product of Everett (Mass.) High, attends the same Baptist church as Lambert. He and Lambert share more similarities than being outstanding athletes. Because Sainristil, like Lambert’s parents, was born in Haiti. 

After five years with the Wolverines, the Washington Commanders selected Sainristil with the No. 50 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Before the professional ranks were even possible for Sainristil, he knew enough about the NFL to share with Lambert that he thought he had the profile to protect a professional passer’s blindside one day. 

“He told me I had a real shot to go to the NFL,” Lambert said. “That’s when I started to realize these people weren’t just talking. I actually have the chance to make it.” 

Immediate Impact

Like Sainristil, Notre Dame’s starting offensive tackles from the past two seasons declared for this year’s NFL Draft. The Los Angeles Chargers chose left tackle Joe Alt with the No. 5 overall pick, and the Houston Texans took right tackle Blake Fisher in the second round and at No. 59 overall. 

Both Alt and Fisher started as freshmen at Notre Dame. Fisher, a coveted four-star recruit, began his career at left tackle. However, a knee injury sidelined him for the regular season. He returned at right tackle for the Fiesta Bowl because Alt, a less-recognized four-star prospect, took over the reins at left tackle and became a Freshman All-American.

Simply said, the Irish are not afraid to play freshmen. 

Entering the 2024 season, sophomore Charles Jagusah, who has just one career start, has the tall task of replacing Alt. At right tackle, graduate student Tosh Baker and junior Aamil Wagner are duking it out to finalize the other bookend. 

When Lambert enrolled at Notre Dame in June, he became the highest-ranked recruit on the roster. Although offensive line coach Joe Rudolph has not told Lambert outright he could be a part of an offensive tackle competition, his rating and college-ready size grant him a realistic runway into it. Lambert is eager to fire up his competitive engines in the event he gets his shot. 

“I want to do everything I can to see the field as fast as possible,” he said. “So, I am going to do everything they ask of me. … I have trust in the coaches that they are going to put the best players out there. 

“Whenever my time comes, I will be ready to play.” 

When you look at how far Lambert has come from his soccer playing days, it is easy to see he is just scratching the surface of his potential. As for his parents’ acceptance of his new path, they’re all about it. They attended Notre Dame’s Blue-Gold Game April 20 and “loved it.” 

“Now they’re the biggest football fans,” Lambert said. 

Whether it’s Week 1 in College Station, Texas, or not until next spring in South Bend when his parents see him out there in a helmet and shoulder pads, they will know that despite their initial reluctance, allowing Lambert to play football was worth it. 

“Everything they do, they do it with a purpose,” he said. “My motivation comes from my family. My parents have worked hard and taught me to put my all into everything. That’s why I try hard in football and academics. 

“I thought they were extremely hard on me as a kid. But now, looking back on it, I’m actually happy they were. It’s given me more discipline and motivation and allowed me to push myself when no one is there to push me.”

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