Defensive End Matthew Johnson Could Continue De La Salle Pipeline For Notre Dame

Notre Dame has had a couple key hits in the Concord (Calif.) De La Salle talent pool, including the school’s all-time leading sack artist in Isaiah Foskey and 2023 tight end signee Cooper Flanagan. In the 2025 recruiting class, the staff once again has its eyes set on another Spartan standout in defensive end Matthew Johnson.

With that success Notre Dame has had with the De La Salle program, obviously that gives a little bit of an inside track. That natural relationship has continued with Johnson.

“Everyone has been great from Notre Dame,” Johnson told Irish Breakdown. “We obviously have the history of guys from De La going to Notre Dame, so the connection is automatic. We’ve been in contact as much as possible with the recruiting rules being the way that they are, but I’ve definitely enjoyed building that relationship with Notre Dame so far.

“All of the Coaches I have talked to have been awesome, especially Coach (Al) Washington,” Johnson continued. “He’s a real genuine dude. I’m really excited to continue moving forward with getting to know the program and the people more and more, and really building that relationship.”

One thing that isn’t talked about enough is how the Irish program is really prioritizing recruits from winning programs. When you talk about consistently winning, there aren’t many teams at a higher level than De La Salle. It should be no surprise that it is a big thing that Johnson is looking for.

“I told Coach Washington that a huge factor for me is going to a winning program,” he said. “That has been a huge reason why I am interested in Notre Dame. I feel like when you surround yourself with winners and successful teams, people and coaches, you naturally pick up those good habits and you can learn how to become a part of that team's success in a major way if you're willing to put the work in.

“Everyone I have talked to really wants me to get up to Indiana for a visit so I’m really excited to make the trip up to South Bend as soon as we are able to,” Johnson added.

For Johnson, recruiting is still new. Contact and communication is going to increase big time soon. Despite this limitations, Notre Dame is still standing out tremendously.

“I don’t have anything scheduled as of yet,” Johnson explained. “I am kinda just waiting until August when schools are technically allowed to communicate with me. That way it’ll just be a lot easier to set those types of things up.

“I would say Oregon, Washington, Notre Dame, Arizona State, and Cal have stood out so far,” he added. “I’ve communicated with those schools the most.”

There’s a good chance that South Bend will be a spot that Johnson visits soon once communication opens up. It’ll be interesting to see just how quickly that relationship continues to develop.

Johnson is considered a four-star recruit on both the On3 Industry ranking and the regular On3 rankings. The latter has him pegged as the No. 132 overall player and No. 12 defensive lineman in the 2025 recruiting class. That ranking also has him as the No. 15 player in the state of California, a state that has traditionally developed a ton of next level talent.

The 6-5, 240-pound defender is also receiving massive attention from the recruiting side. So far Johnson holds offers from Notre Dame, USC, Oregon, Washington, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona State and Cal among several others.

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