Patience Paid Off For Joe Otting And Notre Dame

Joe Otting was on Notre Dame's radar well before he received an offer, but that patience paid off for him and Notre Dame

Topeka (Kan.) Hayden offensive lineman Joe Otting was on Notre Dame's radar for some time, but the Irish never pulled the trigger with an offer until the spring. Despite making a late run at Otting, the patience he showed paid off for him and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame first showed interest in Otting during the fall, and the family responded by making a game day trip up to campus.

“I know that (the staff) had reached out to Joe in the fall and I know that Joe had also reached out to them and expressed some interest,” said Otting's mother, Debbie. “He mentioned that he had always dreamed of playing at Notre Dame. They invited him up for the Georgia Tech game around the end of November so we got to experience the game day and had a great weekend.”

After that initial visit, communication was sporadic, but that changed when line coach Harry Hiestand made his return. Amidst a coaching change, the new staff was left to not only pick up the board as it currently stood, but to continue identifying talent that had not been a priority up to that point. That’s when the contact with Otting started to pick up. It was a different sports arena that gave the staff some deeper insight into the quality of athlete Otting was.

“After they saw his basketball film, they reached out again in the spring,” explained Mrs. Otting. “I know they were very impressed with what they saw. Football film shows a lot but basketball film can show more athleticism and more footwork, hands and they were very pleased with that.

Of course, Otting shining on the basketball court shouldn't be a surprise, as his mother played college hoops at Washburn.

“So Coach (Tommy) Rees was coming to Kansas City, which is about an hour away so he said he would come down, size him up and watch him lift,” she continued. “They .... watched how he moved. He came in and spent some time at Hayden, had a great conversation and said they would stay in touch.”

Obviously Rees had important involvement in this recruitment, especially early. From there, the staff took a collaborative approach. The main person to sign off was Hiestand.

“From my understanding, I was told that he called Coach Hiestand and told him that this was a Notre Dame kid,” Otting said. “That’s when they offered. He was of course thrilled."

From that point things happened very quickly. Less than a month later, the Ottings had planned a trip up to South Bend for a Notre Dame football recruiting camp. That return was enjoyable for all members of the Otting family.

“We got up to Notre Dame on Friday night,” she explained. “Joe had a committable offer before that so it wasn’t like he had to perform but he was so nervous. I tried to reassure him but he wanted to do his best. He got to work with Coach Hiestand, Zack Martin and some of his former greats and wanted to impress.

“After he was done for the day, Joe was exhausted. When we go back to the hotel room, Joe’s exhausted, he’s wiped out,” she explained. “My husband was like, we kind of need to talk this out. We had a meeting with Coach (Marcus) Freeman the next day so we had to figure it out. We talked a little bit and decided to call Andy, and have a little conference call with the whole family. He told Joe that he wants to be the best football player and offensive lineman he could possibly be and he has a chance to work with the best offensive line coach in the country, at a university that he has always dreamed of.”

He belonged at Notre Dame.

After that family meeting, it was a done deal. It was only a matter of telling the news to the coaching staff. They met with Freeman the next morning and gave him the big update.

“We got a chance to meet with Coach Freeman and sit out on his balcony,” Otting said. “It was a cool Sunday morning. He got to share the news that he wanted to commit and the coaches seemed a little surprised because they had thought he would take some time at home to make the decision. They were just so thrilled when he told them.”

Otting spent the next few days breaking the news to other prospective coaches who took the time to recruit him throughout the process. His appreciation level, as well as his family’s, was indescribable.

They, however, found the right fit. Otting had always dreamed of playing with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was finally a reality. 

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