La Salle’s Grayson McKeogh made a late position switch and became the ‘left tackle of the future’

Grayson McKeogh had an idea what the meeting was going to be about. The hints were there. They would come in small sound bites passing in La Salle’s hallways, between workout stations in the weight room.

He discussed the topic the previous night with his parents, preparing himself for where he saw his future, as opposed to where others thought it should be. The touchstone moment came on a weekday after school in February 2024. La Salle football coach Brett Gordon and the Explorers’ legendary offensive line coach Mark Schmidt wanted some time with McKeogh, then a gangly 6-foot-8, 245-pound sophomore with distant aspirations of one day playing in the NBA, not the NFL.

Little did McKeogh know the 40-minute chat would change his young life.

At one end of a long table in a cluttered coach’s room sat Gordon. At the other end sat Schmidt. Plunked in the middle was McKeogh, aware he was there, though mired in ambivalence — listening to why they were going to move him to a football island known as offensive left tackle, a position he never played before.

Fast forward 16 months, and little did McKeogh foresee himself one day wearing a No. 78 Notre Dame jersey on social media. He committed to Fighting Irish football coach Marcus Freeman, two days before his five-star La Salle teammate Joey O’Brien made his pledge.

“It is funny how this worked out, because I saw myself in the NBA, and it was Coach Gordon who spoke to me about this move to offensive tackle,” McKeogh recalled. “I can look back and say that meeting changed my life. It’s really true. I did have some questions because it meant playing a third different position in three years. Coach Schmidt and Coach Gordon made the point that there weren’t many 6-8 bigs in the NBA anymore. They told me I had a better chance of one day playing in the NFL as a left tackle. They explained their reasons why the move was in my best interest.

“They were right. I love it.”

What Gordon and Schmidt saw, and why Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph recruited McKeogh, was a high school version of Lane Johnson, someone large with quick feet who was highly intelligent, able to squeeze his body into tight frames, and willing to be coached. For an example of how freakishly athletic McKeogh is, Rudolph cued up his incredible play that thrust last year’s La Salle-St. Joseph’s Prep regular-season thriller into overtime.

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The Hawks were sitting at the La Salle 4-yard line in the waning seconds of the game, and instead of kicking a walk-off field goal, the Hawks decided to go for a touchdown. As Prep quarterback Charlie Foulke rolled right, La Salle defensive back Christian Peterman managed to deflect Foulke’s pass. From nowhere, a leaping mammoth came into view, McKeogh, making a diving interception at La Salle’s 5-yard line.

McKeogh, who started as a promising basketball player at La Salle, suited up at tight end in his freshman year under previous head coach John Steinmetz, who stepped down in 2023 after nine years. As a sophomore, McKeogh was moved to defensive end. When Gordon took over last season, he quickly noticed McKeogh’s size and speed. Gordon also noticed the Explorers had hardly anyone back with experience, nor McKeogh’s size, on the offensive line.

To put the pieces together, Gordon, Schmidt, and the Explorers’ coaching staff thought moving McKeogh would help, with his size and athleticism alone, in keeping edge rushers from Missouri-bound quarterback Gavin Sidwar’s blind side.

Basketball was still a big part of McKeogh’s future. Or so he thought.

“Coach Schmidt and I talked Grayson into making the move to left tackle,” Gordon said. “He’s only played 11 games at the position and he’s going to Notre Dame. That speaks to Grayson’s intelligence and being open-minded about new opportunities to explore. When I speak to my team, I use Grayson as an example of that. Over the last two months, I have had to call Texas, Alabama, and Ohio State to tell them Grayson was not interested in visiting. So now, you’re dealing with someone who initially had doubts about playing the position to someone who is considered among the best offensive linemen in the country.

“I fully expected Grayson to succeed. His skill set fits the position, and not only that, but the move was also going to be the most beneficial move for his college future and beyond. Guys who have everything Grayson has — size, athleticism, intelligence, his wingspan — there not that many of them. The few that are out there are in the NFL.”

A year ago, that was the furthest thing from McKeogh’s mind.

In February 2024, he was 245 pounds. He knew nothing about playing offensive tackle. Six months from that time, he would be facing Malvern Prep’s Cam Brickle, who’s committed to Ohio State, and Penn State pledge Jackson Ford.

He needed a crash course in playing the position.

“The biggest advantage we had with Grayson was his intelligence and he had no bad habits that we had to coach out of him,” Schmidt said. “When Brett got the La Salle job, he brought me in, and we had to assess our offensive line situation. We had to explain to Grayson that he was going to be our left tackle of the future. In Grayson’s first year, he was hesitant, a little uptight about it. But he came around and he came around to believing what we wanted to do. As a pass protector, I thought he was great. As a run blocker, he needed work, and that came with adding weight and getting bigger and stronger.”

McKeogh’s initial concern was playing a third position in three years.

“I remember telling Coach Gordon and Coach Schmidt, ‘Let’s do it,’ but I’ll admit it, there was some doubt in the back of my mind,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘Do I want to do it? No, not really,’ and the other thought was, ‘I have to do it, to help the team, which comes first. Yeah, then I have to do it.’ I did question myself whether I could do it. I remember walking out of Coach Gordon’s office thinking my world was about to change. But they kept telling me that I would be learning left tackle with a clean slate. I had no bad habits to correct.”

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McKeogh admitted there was a trial-and-error process in practice. He relied heavily on left guards Zach Mangan, who has since graduated, and Chris Bernesky, a 6-3, 290-pound junior. He also had to escape his own head. You could almost see the thought bubble above his gold La Salle helmet each time he peeled back in pass protection or when he lowered his pad level on running plays.

By the middle of the 2024 season, McKeogh began reaching a comfort zone, he said. Some problems came from thinking too much. Being deeply immersed in basketball translated well with muscle memory, in terms of foot movement and body positioning.

“Grayson is extremely cerebral, which sometimes hurt him last year, because he thought, then reacted, but that’s with any position in football” Gordon said. “With a year under him, he plays fast. Everything is so much more natural to him. If you would have told me this time last year Grayson would be going to Notre Dame, my answer would have been, ‘He has a long way to go,’ and Grayson himself would have said the same thing. I also knew what Grayson has turned into was a possibility.”

His biggest problem early on was leverage and his tendency to rise and not create a solid low foundation. He developed a kick step, and knowing when to slide. The added weight was an enormous help. Last year, he was bench-pressing 205 pounds. He’s now benching well over 300, which comes with bulking up to 285. He is reaching a point where his biceps are looking more like most people’s thighs. He will play sparingly on the defensive side, although he is a far different player than he was a year ago.

“I’m going into this year with a lot more confidence than I did last year, and I grew along with the rest of our offensive line, because a lot will depend on us,” McKeogh said. “My leverage can still be better, but the biggest thing for me and our offensive line will be the run game. I still need to get off the ball better. I have to get my hands inside for better leverage on a guy and throw him back a couple of yards. Once I get there, the confidence will grow more.”

And, hopefully, the La Salle team collectively will follow. One of this team’s strengths will be its offensive line with McKeogh, Bernesky, 6-2, 265-pound senior center Jacob Jackson, 6-2, 290-pound junior right guard Andrew Sorge, and 6-3, 285-pound senior right tackle Danny Lawyer returning.

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The Explorers will go as far as that group will take them. La Salle’s one and only PIAA state championship came in 2009 — and the Explorers know it. McKeogh is certainly aware. The last time La Salle was in the state playoffs was in 2015, when this year’s seniors were 7-year-olds. After last year’s 21-14 loss in November to three-time defending PIAA Class 6A state champion St. Joe’s Prep in the Catholic League championship, McKeogh stayed on the field for a while, hugging the departing seniors and thanking them for a 10-1 season.

He then went home and watched tape of the game. The loss left a searing scar for the returning La Salle seniors.

“It’s motivating,” McKeogh said. “It’s why I don’t think there is any if we are going to do this, we are accepting nothing short of a state championship this year. I feel that confident. I’m ready for that pressure. I’ve been ready. I know we haven’t done anything yet, but we are all a whole new team this year. We’re going to deal with adversity better. College recruiting is over. I have a destination. Joey knows where he is going. This is the year we break through.”

Looks like McKeogh has done that.