Why Notre Dame OT commit Owen Strebig decided to compete at guard at camp
As soon as the five offensive linemen in front of Owen Strebig showed they were finished with their cycle of 1-on-1s at Sunday’s Under Armour Next Camp in Canton, Ohio, the Notre Dame commit darted from the sideline and dodged the rest of the camp participants.
The 6-foot-7, 295-pounder from Waukesha (Wis.) Catholic Memorial beat everyone besides one who chose to get reps at left tackle. So, the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 16 offensive tackle in the 2025 class decided to play left guard.
“There was a long line of tackles, so I decided to hop in at guard,” Strebig told reporters afterward.
Strebig, a top 200 four-star prospect in his class, is one of three offensive tackles currently verbally committed to the Fighting Irish. The others are four-stars Will Black and Matty Augustine, the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 9 and 27 offensive tackles in the 2025 cycle. Black is On3’s top OT.
In the 2024 cycle, the Irish signed three offensive linemen who could also play offensive tackle: Anthonie Knapp, Guerby Lambert and Styles Prescod. Knapp and Prescod project as interior offensive linemen, and Lambert finished as the No. 4 offensive tackle in the class.
The future of the Irish offensive tackle depth chart is crowded, nonetheless. Yet, Strebig said that didn’t inspire him to play guard last Sunday.
“I just wanted to get out there to get reps,” he said. “This thing for me was just getting practice and trying to improve. …
“Guard is different. It’s much different because it’s a smaller box. So, I got to learn just how to stay low because now you’re going against bigger guys compared to skinnier edge rushers. I’ll have to start working at both positions this offseason.”
Simply said, Strebig will do whatever it takes to see the field with the Fighting Irish.
“Honestly, I have to train for everything,” he said. “Because I just want to play. So, if playing guard gets me on the field the fastest, that’s that.”
Owen Strebig talks connection with Notre Dame commits Matty Augustine and Will Black
While there are three offensive tackles committed in Notre Dame’s 2025 class — and only two tackles on a standard offensive line — Strebig said he, Augustine and Black have not talked among themselves about who will play offensive tackle for the Irish. Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph has not given any clues, either.
“Who knows,” Strebig said. “I guess we’ll figure it out when we get there.”
Their eventual competition sets up to be a friendly one. After all, they have a budding bond after hanging out together during the Blue-Gold Game weekend.
“We’re all very similar people,” Strebig said. “It’s just like hanging out with your friends on the weekend. We were walking around campus. We went to the baseball game. We’re all similar. That goes back to Notre Dame — they recruit a certain type of person. We’re all similar.”
They have all connected with 2025 four-star quarterback commit Deuce Knight, too.
“We love Deuce,” Strebig said. “That’s our quarterback. We’re so happy he made it to the spring game. It’s a fun time when we’re all around. I’m so excited for the OV.”
Strebig, Knight, Black and Augustine are all officially visiting from June 14-16. A few targets will also be there. Strebig has one in mind who he would like to help the Irish beat the competition and add to the commit list.
“We’re trying to get Derek Meadows locked into the wide receiver room,” he said. “We need him in our class. He’s a great dude. I hope we can get him.”
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