Notre Dame Football: Making sense of messy transfer situation

The Notre Dame football staff has had to deal with an early abundance of declarations to enter the transfer portal; how do they navigate that?

The Notre Dame football staff has had to deal with an early abundance of declarations to enter the transfer portal. While some announcements have been shocking, most appear on par with what you would typically expect and see this time of year.

Let’s make sense of what the Irish have genuinely lost to the transfer portal just a few days into this new college football free agency.

First and foremost, there were expected transfers and guys that haven’t surprised me, like Tobias Merriweather, Nana Osafa-Mensah, Holden Staes, and Zeke Correll. Tobias has struggled to make a name for himself in his young career.

He showed a lack of tracking the football and, in particular, some lack of effort on plays. Staes is a solid tight end but was clearly the number two behind Evans this year and likely would’ve been passed by Eli Raridon.

Osafa-Mensah is a second-string type of player in this Notre Dame football program and should be able to find a role where he excels as the star. Same with Zeke Correll, while he started quite a few games, the guys behind him looked like they were putting a lot of pressure on the coaches to become the new starter – Ashton Craig specifically.

Another name that makes sense is Clarence Lewis, as he was slowly losing time to younger players and will have a Notre Dame degree. Looking at the young receivers that have transferred along with veteran Chris Tyree, things get dicey.

All indications pointed to Tyree being the epitome of a Notre Dame football “guy.” His relationship with Freeman seemed fantastic, yet something inside that receiver room went wrong along the way. Tyree was a surprise and certainly was someone this program would’ve loved to keep moving forward.

Notre Dame football is a bit of a mess now

Where things get messy is with the transfer intentions of Rico Flores and Braylon James. With all due respect to those two young men, as they both have bright futures, neither should’ve played a snap this year. The sheer necessity that forced Rico into being a serviceable receiver down the stretch should never happen in a program as big as Notre Dame football.

Both were very close with Chansi Stuckey, and when he was let go, for whatever reason, those two were almost sure to follow, Rico in particular. My point is that a lot of the transfers make sense. Exasperation was magnified by the tumult of Chansi Stuckey and the wide receiver room in general. Stuckey was a heck of a recruiter, but the on-field production was lacking greatly.

Again, I have nothing but respect for these young men facing tough decisions. That said, Greathouse is the cream of the crop from this freshmen receiver group. He undoubtedly has the highest floor of the group and should be a stud moving forward. Should he make plans to leave, well, that’s another story.

I can guarantee this: be prepared for more transfer intentions to be made public in the coming days and weeks. Still, though, Notre Dame football will also land some highly productive players in the portal to supplement their losses. Be patient and let things play out; I know it’s easier said than done. Still, given the turnover, the Irish are in a solid position heading into next season.