While the Notre Dame football team is still waiting for its first new arrival through the Transfer Portal, the Irish did manage to convince a player to return. Armel Mukam entered the portal less than 10 days ago but decided to stick with Marcus Freeman and company after checking things out at other schools.
Mukam is now poised to spend his fourth year with Notre Dame, and 2026 could be the season he sees a bit more playing time. So far, he's got 11 tackles and 1 career forced fumble. He had the most playing time for the Irish this season as he recorded 5 tackles and that FF.
The timing of Mukam's return to Notre Dame is significant. The school has been on winter break but returns to classes on Monday, January 12. Still, he had enough time to take a couple of visits, but decided South Bend was still where his heart lay.
Armel Mukam withdraws from portal and returns to Notre Dame
The 6-foot-3, 304-pound defender officially visited Georgia Tech on January 5, which happened to be the same day Notre Dame lost out on some of its top portal transfer targets on the defensive line. The returning Fighting Irish player also took a trip to Virginia to see what the Cavs had to offer.
In other words, there was no shortage of interest in Armel Mukam despite not having a vast body of work to lean on. In the end, Notre Dame was able to secure his return for a defensive line that will see quite a few changes heading into next season.