The numbers are the numbers for Notre Dame and the transfer portal, but so what?
We are almost a week into college football’s transfer portal season, and it probably goes without saying… Notre Dame fans are more than a little bit anxious. All we have seen over the last (almost) week are transfer portal departures from Notre Dame. There hasn’t been a single commitment/signing, and a number of early targets didn’t even bother to step foot in South Bend.
I mean… y’all don’t want a fresh pie from Rocco’s?
While it seems very doom and gloom, you might feel a little bit better if you knew that the Irish are in the same boat as a few other programs.
I know, I know — you don’t care. I get it, and if you’re feeling a little moody about it all, you are also in THAT boat with other Irish fans. It’s not just the numbers, it’s the needs.
Notre Dame absolutely needs some defensive lineman — defensive tackles in particular. They also need a kicker and probably a wide receiver. They aren’t luxury items, and they aren’t depth pieces — the needs are actual needs.
And we all know that.
But let’s get to the math for second because that’s why we’re here. People are getting upset that Notre Dame’s roster is withering away. Multiple transfer portal departures a day and no commitments makes the anger some very low-hanging fruit. So let’s talk about it real quick… who said Notre Dame needs 105 scholarship players on the roster anyways?
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| – | QB – Kenny Minchey – Kentucky |
| – | S – Taebron Bennie-Powell |
| – | RB – Gi’Bran Payne – Cincinnati |
| – | S – JaDon Blair – Missouri |
| – | CB – Chance Tucker |
| – | S – Ben Minich |
| – | K – Marcello Diomede |
| – | DB – Karson Hobbs |
| – | DE – Joshua Burnham – Indiana |
| – | DT – Armel Mukam |
| – | CB – Cree Thomas – Colorado |
| – | QB – Anthony Rezac – South Dakota St. |
| – | WR – KK Smith |
| – | LB – Preston Zinter |
| – | LB – Bodie Kahoun |
| – | LB – Anthony Sacca |
| – | WR – Scrap Richardson |
For years and years, the NCAA rules had the 85 man limit. That’s 20 players less than what it is now, and somehow Notre Dame (and every school in the country) fielded a team each year.
When the new NCAA rule went through, Notre Dame was looking to have a roster that consisted of roughly 95 “scholarship” players and 10 “walk-ons” each year. It makes sense from a financial standpoint, and it’s just a nice part of the college football culture as well.
So… here’s what it looks like for 2026 as of very early Thursday morning:
| Player/Class | Freshmen | Sophomore | Junior | Senior | Graduate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | Noah Grubbs, Teddy Jarrard | Blake Hebert | C.J. Carr | – | ` |
| Running Back | Javian Osborne, Jonaz Walton | Nolan James | Aneyas Williams, Kedren Young | – | – |
| Tight End | Preston Fryzel, Ian Premer | James Flanigan | Jack Larsen | Cooper Flanagan | Ty Washington |
| Wide Receiver | Dylan Faison, Bubba Frazier, Kaydon Finley, Devin Fitzgerald, Brayden Robinson | Elijah Burress, Jerome Bettis Jr. | Cam Williams, Micah Gilbert, Logan Saldate | Jaden Greathouse, Jordan Faison | – |
| Center | – | Cameron Herron | – | Joe Otting | Ashton Craig |
| Guard | Sullivan Garvin, Tyler Merrill, Gregory Patrick | – | – | Chris Terek, Sullivan Absher, Devan Houstan | – |
| Tackle | Ben Nichols, Grayson McKeogh, Charlie Thom | Will Black, Owen Strebig, Matty Augustine | Peter Jones, Anthonie Knapp, Styles Prescod, Guerby Lambert | Charles Jagusah | – |
| Defensive Tackle | Tiki Hola, Elijah Golden | Christopher Burgess, Davion Dixon, Gordy Sulfsted | Cole Mullins, Sean Sevillano | Brenan Vernon | Elijah Hughes, Jason Onye |
| Defensive End | Ebenezer Ewetade, Rodney Dunham | Dominik Hulak, Joseph Reiff | Bryce Young, Loghan Thomas | Boubacar Traore | – |
| Linebacker | Thomas Davis Jr., Kobe Clapper | Anthony Sacca, Madden Faraimo, Ko’o Kia, | Teddy Rezac, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Kahanu Kia | Drayk Bowen, Jaiden Ausberry | Jaylen Sneed |
| Safety | Ayden Pouncey, Joey O’Brien, Nick Reddish | Ethan Long, Brandon Logan | Brauntae Johnson | Adon Shuler, Luke Talich | – |
| Cornerback | Chaston Smith, Khary Adams | Dallas Golden, Mark Zachery | Leonard Moore | Christian Gray | – |
| Specialists | Jasper Scaife | Erik Schmidt | – | – | – |
| Totals | 29/105 (29) | 51/105 (22) | 71/105 (20) | 86/105 (15) | 91/105 (5) |
Compare that chart to the one in 2018. Remember, in 2018, Notre Dame went undefeated in the regular season under the 85 man rule.
| Position/Year | Freshman | Sophomore | Junior | Senior | 5th Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | Phil Jurkovec | Avery Davis* | Ian Book* | Brandon Wimbush* | |
| Running Back | Jahmir Smith, C’Bo Flemister | Jafar Armstrong* | Tony Jones Jr.* | Dexter Williams | |
| Tight End | George Takacs, Tommy Tremble | Cole Kmet, Brock Wright | Alize’ Mack* | Nic Weishar | |
| Wide Receiver | Micah Jones, Kevin Austin, Braden Lenzy, Lawrence Keys III | Michael Young | Chase Claypool, Javon McKinley* | Chris Finke*, Miles Boykin* | |
| Center | Luke Jones | Sam Mustipher | |||
| Guard | John Dirksen | Dillan Gibbons* | Tommy Kraemer* | Trevor Ruhland* | Alex Bars |
| Tackle | Cole Mabry, Jarrett Patterson | Josh Lugg*, Robert Hainsey, Aaron Banks* | Liam Eichenberg* | ||
| Defensive Tackle | Jayson Ademilola, Ja’mion Franklin | Kurt Hinish, Darnell Ewell*, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa | Micah Dew-Treadway*, Jerry Tillery | Jonathan Bonner | |
| Defensive End | Justin Ademilola | Kofi Wardlow* | Ade Ogundeji*, Daelin Hayes, Khalid Kareem, Julian Okwara | ||
| Linebacker | Bo Bauer, Ovio Oghoufo, Jack Lamb | Drew White*, Jordan Genmark Heath | Jonathan Jones*, Jamir Jones, DJ Morgan | Te’von Coney | Drue Tranquill |
| Rover | Shayne Simon | Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah*, Isaiah Robertson | Asmar Bilal | ||
| Safety | Derrik Allen, Paul Moala, Houston Griffith | Devin Studstill, Jalen Elliott, Alohi Gilman* | Nicco Fertitta, Nick Coleman | ||
| Cornerback | Joe Wilkins Jr., Tariq Bracy, D.J. Brown, Noah Boykin | Julian Love, Troy Pride Jr., Donte Vaughn | Shaun Crawford** | ||
| Specialists | John Doerer | John Shannon* | Justin Yoon | Tyler Newsome | |
| 27/85 (27) | 45/85 (18) | 65/85 (20) | 79/85 (14) | 85/85 (6) |
So while it’s certainly within reason to yearn for the players of need, the Irish are still currently sitting on a very strong roster. Don’t worry so much about the math. Math is dumb.
And if you made it this far…
There has been good news reported about DE Keon Keeley and WR Mylan Graham. No, they didn’t commit, but there are some positive things out there. Notre Dame has been remarkably quiet as far as leaking any info out, so I take the positive news as some major positives — but we shall see.
Category: General Sports
