When former Penn State running backs coach left Happy Valley for South Bend this offseason, he looked intent on bringing four-star 2026 running back commit Messiah Mickens with him. Mickens hasn’t flipped, so Seider turned his attention to an even more highly-ranked 2026 running back and just scored Notre Dame a massive recruiting win.
On May 3, four-star running back Javian Osborne committed to the Fighting Irish and helped their recent surge to No. 2 in the national recruiting rankings. With the 5-foot-10, 200-pound running back in tow, Notre Dame trails only USC nationally and is two spots ahead of Penn State.
Ja’Juan Seider brings four-star running back Javian Osborne to Notre Dame
Osborne is the sixth-best running back in the 2026 recruiting class according to 247Sports Composite Rankings and the 90th-ranked player in the country. Now that Seider, who is also the associate head coach for Marcus Freeman, has landed Osborne, he’s likely to lay off his recruitment of Mickens.
On top of landing Osborne, Seider has Notre Dame predicted to land four-star running back Brian Bonner, who has official visits scheduled to Notre Dame, Washington, UCLA, Nebraska, and Penn State. Bonner will be in Happy Valley on June 13, but Stan Drayton, who replaced Seider on James Franklin’s staff, with have an uphill battle recruiting against Seider.
With Bonner likely to join the Fighting Irish, Mickens becomes an even more important piece of the Nittany Lions’ 2026 class. The Harrisburg, PA native is the 13th-best running back in the 2026 class and could see playing time right away at Penn State because Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen are both entering their final seasons of eligibility.
Seider recruited both Singleton and Allen in the 2022 class, and now they’re arguably the best backfield duo in the country. The only group that has an argument against them is the one Seider now coaches in South Bend: Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price.
Once Singleton and Allen move on from Penn State, a crowded group of Cam Wallace, Quinton Martin Jr., Corey Smith, Jabree Wallace-Coleman, and Tikey Hayes will all compete for playing time. That will be an unproven group, so Mickens could find himself in the mix.
Seider’s recruiting track record speaks for itself, but without him, Penn State will need similar results from Drayton to keep the backfield a position of strength in Happy Valley, because it certainly will be in South Bend.