Notre Dame football: Former Irish wideout Michael Young transfers

After entering the transfer portal in October of last year, former Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Young announced he is transferring to Cincinnati.

It came as a surprise to most Notre Dame football fans when wide receiver Michael Young announced in October of last year that he was entering the transfer portal with the intent to leave the University of Notre Dame.

The former three-star recruit out of Louisiana had played in every game in the first two seasons he was enrolled at South Bend. The Irish were hoping to have him play a critical role in the offense last season, but when he broke his collarbone prior to the start of the season and was forced to miss the first three games of the year he seemed to slip down the wide receiving depth chart.

To preserve further eligibility, Young announced that he would sit out the remainder of the season for the Irish and enter the transfer portal. Surprisingly, almost seven months have passed with little news on where he would be playing out the remainder of his collegiate games.

That changed yesterday when Young announced that he would be transferring to the University of Cincinnati. There he will reunite with the coach who played such an integral role in his recruitment to South Bend, former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.

Denbrock has held the role of offensive coordinator with Cincinnati for the past three seasons and is the primary reason why Young chose Cincinnati as his transfer destination. While Denbrock played an integral role in the recruitment of Young, he never actually played under the former offensive coordinator as Denbrock was replaced by Chip Long after the Irish went 4-8 in 2016.

After a Notre Dame career where Young had 17 receptions for 177 yards and two touchdowns, he will look to jumpstart his career in Denbrock’s offensive scheme in Cincinnati. He will be eligible to play for the Bearcats immediately and will likely be a focal point on offense for them in 2020.