The NCAA transfer portal for college football opens up this Monday, December 4th and will remain open all the way through Tuesday, January 2nd. As a reminder, graduate transfers are allowed to enter the transfer portal at any time while players who have their head coach fired or leave the program have a 30-day window to enter the portal.

The time for portal shopping started a while ago, of course. Here are the Notre Dame players from 2023 who are out of eligibility and not returning:

QB Sam Hartman
WR Matt Salerno
DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste
S DJ Brown
S Thomas Harper
K Spencer Shrader
LS Michael Vinson

Here are the eligible list of graduate students broken up into tiers from our latest scholarship post. Any players who have announced they are leaving are crossed out. In addition, Bertrand (Shrine Bowl), Liufau (Senior Bowl), and Hart (Senior Bowl) have accepted invites to these post-season all-star games and their exit from Notre Dame are merely a formality but we have no ‘love thee’ yet:

Tier 1

DT Howard Cross
S Xavier Watts
DE Jordan Botelho
CB Cam Hart
OC Zeke Correll 
LB JD Bertrand
LB Marist Liufau
LB Jack Kiser
DT Rylie Mills
WR Chris Tyree 
CB Clarence Lewis
DE NaNa Osafo-Mensah 
S Ramon Henderson 

Tier 2

S Antonio Carter
OT Tosh Baker
OG Andrew Kristofic
TE Kevin Bauman
RB Devyn Ford

Tier 3

OT Michael Carmody
DT Aidan Keanaaina 

Have you heard? Even more players have left in recent days, too. As of this publish date the following are in the transfer portal:

WR Rico Flores
WR Tobias Merriweather
WR Braylon James
TE Holden Staes
CB Ryan Barnes

A trio of players are expected to leave early for the NFL:

RB Audric Estime
OT Joe Alt
OT Blake Fisher

Estime and Alt appear to be 100% locks and the reporting from the beat media suggests Fisher is leaving, too.

Notre Dame’s 2024 Transfer Portal Needs

We’ll talk about several players and their status on the roster but the numbers below include everyone still officially on the team and/or who haven’t formally announced they are leaving Notre Dame.

HIGH NEED

Field Receiver
Roster: 2
Need: 1

Notre Dame had FIU transfer Kris Mitchell (6-1, 183) on campus this weekend and he would fit the bill as perhaps the team’s biggest need this entire off-season. The Irish need bodies at receiver, they need a proven starter at receiver, and they need someone with speed and playmaking at the field side ASAP.

Boundary Receiver
Roster: 3
Need: 1

Will Colzie return?

Most thought that with his knee injury this year it looked like Notre Dame was preserving Deion Colzie’s season in an attempt to save a year and likely transfer. In recent days, there’s buzz that Colzie might be sticking around after all. Even so, if he stays there’s definitely a case to be made that Notre Dame should target another wideout. Assuming no extra attrition, and an incoming field receiver, another body from the portal would still only bring this unit to 10 players total.

Offensive Tackle:
Roster: 9
Need: 1

This large amount of tackles on the roster is going to tumble and tumble quickly in the coming weeks and days. In addition to Alt and potentially Fisher, the veteran backup Michael Carmody surely will be departing and I’m not sure if Tosh Baker is going to be asked back and/or trusted to win a starting tackle job. Notre Dame would probably roll the dice and stay put in the transfer market if Fisher comes back. Replacing both starting tackles probably means attempting to find someone in the portal.

Safety
Roster: 8
Need: 1

If Xavier Watts doesn’t come back the safety position is in massive trouble. It feels like Notre Dame is doing everything it can not to lose him. The former Rhode Island transfer Antonio Carter adds veteran depth but he only played 72 snaps in all of 2023, and that includes a hefty 20 snaps in garbage time against Stanford. It’s possible he’s set to move on anyway.

Finding a starter to pair with Watts is a top 3 transfer priority this off-season. Everyone else at safety is so young and unproven.

Jumbo End
Roster: 4
Need: 1

If the Irish decided not to bring back NaNa Osafo-Mensah that’s certainly a curious decision. It’s possible the coaching staff is incredibly high on the return of Aiden Gobaira and the promise of Brenan Vernon and the incoming Bryce Young. That’s just literally *zero* quality experience from this entire group and that’s really scary. Losing your two-deep at a position and not working on that in the portal would be negligent.

Kicker
Roster: 1
Need: 1

I haven’t seen much talk about the kicking situation. The Irish head into 2024 without a kicker on scholarship and walk-on Zac Yoakam would presumably be the guy right now. Current walk-on freshman Marcello Diomede would also be in the mix.

MEDIUM NEED

Quarterback
Roster: 3
Need: 1

Soon?

In terms of importance, of course this position would be in the high need category. All signs point to Notre Dame targeting Riley Leonard from Duke and hopeful they will get their man.

Vyper
Roster: 5
Need: 1

A transfer here would probably be considered a luxury in terms of bodies overall, so it’s unlikely to happen. I don’t think anyone truly impressed at Vyper in 2023 although they’ll probably run it back with the Botelho-Junior-Burnham trio with the hope that Traore is ready to make a big jump.

Defensive Tackle
Roster: 5
Need: 1

We await the decision of Rylie Mills and his future, although the vibes indicate he’s probably coming back. If he does, Notre Dame brings back everyone on the roster from a year ago.

Nose Guard
Roster: 4
Need: 1

Will Howard Cross stay or go? Just like defensive tackle and Mills, this decision has a big impact on off-season moves.

LOW NEED

Slot Receiver
Roster: 3
Need: 0

There are far too many holes elsewhere on the roster–and plenty to like about this position with Greathouse and Faison–to bring in someone else to compete.

Running Back
Roster: 7
Need: 0

Estime has to be off to the NFL and even 6 players in the running back room is a lot. An additional transfer wouldn’t be a surprise but as long as it’s not Jeremiyah Love we’re good here.

Tight End
Roster: 6
Need: 0

The Staes transfer was one of the more surprising decisions so far, although not totally insane. If you’re tight end U you’re probably not looking to bring in extra help at this position. The uncertain future of Mitchell Evans’ injury heading into 2024 clouds things, however, there’s always quality young talent to rely upon.

Offensive Guard
Roster: 8
Need: 0

Both starters are coming back from 2023, plus the continued development of Billy Schrauth is added to the mix. There are a lot of bodies and a lot of options and experience to choose from for next year.

Offensive Center
Roster: 3
Need: 0

Zeke Correll isn’t coming back and it appears that Ashton Craig has asserted himself as the starting center for the next 2-3 years.

Linebacker
Roster: 12
Need: 0

For a defense that rarely uses 3 linebackers on the field at the same time they will not carry 12 players on the 2024 roster. We look set for a youth movement in 2024 as Betrand and Liufau appear headed out, while the return of Kiser is up in the air as well. All 3 leaving would be quite the change, although not enough to bring any new transfers. Many have wanted the younger players to get their turn and that’s what we should be getting next year.

Cornerback
Roster: 9
Need: 0

Clark visited Notre Dame this weekend. 

Cam Hart played the 2nd most snaps among the corners in 2023 and if he’s leaving it’s without question a loss. If no one else leaves, the remaining 8 players would still make this likely the strongest unit on the team. A Morrison-Lewis-Mickey-Gray core is really strong. Arizona State defensive back transfer Jordan Clark (5-10, 185) has been on campus this weekend and the Irish are reportedly looking to bring him as a nickelback starter where he played for the Sun Devils.

How Many Transfers Coming In?

In a recent article Pete Sampson from The Athletic mentioned that Notre Dame is looking to add 1 quarterback, 2 wideouts, 1 offensive tackle, 1 defensive end, and 2 defensive backs.

That addresses all of the high needs mentioned above (except kicker) with the quarterback situation kind of always baked in as a high need in our heart of hearts.

On the one hand, I get targeting a new nickelback because the importance of that position increases every year. On the other hand, bringing in only 1 new defensive lineman seems extremely risky given the linebacker corps could be really green in 2024. I have to think Cross and Mills are definitely coming back, right?

The Irish brought in 7 transfers last off-season and appear on track to bring in the same amount for 2024. I’d argue something closer to 10 would be ideal but this will continue to be a struggle for Notre Dame.