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?
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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
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QB – Kenny Minchey – Kentucky
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S – Taebron Bennie-Powell
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RB – Gi’Bran Payne – Cincinnati
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S – JaDon Blair – Missouri
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CB – Chance Tucker
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S – Ben Minich
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K – Marcello Diomede
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DB – Karson Hobbs
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DE – Joshua Burnham – Indiana
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DT – Armel Mukam
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CB – Cree Thomas – Colorado
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QB – Anthony Rezac – South Dakota St.
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WR – KK Smith
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LB – Preston Zinter
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LB – Bodie Kahoun
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LB – Anthony Sacca
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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.
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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.
