Notre Dame Football star gets new team on transfer portal opening day

The first Notre Dame Football move in the transfer portal might be a bit of a relief for Irish fans. So far, no guys weren’t expected to be in the portal on this opening day. Instead, a player who announced he planned to transfer last week has found his new home.

Clarence Lewis has had one foot out the door for a while now and on Tuesday, he took a full step into the portal. It turns out that he will be heading to a Notre Dame Football ACC rival, even though the two schools won’t be facing off in 2024.

On Tuesday morning, Lewis announced he will play his final season of college football for the Syracuse Orange. It’s another addition to a roster that new head coach Fran Brown has worked hard to reshape and rebuild quickly.

Clarence Lewis started 23 games during his career with Notre Dame Football, including six during his freshman season when the Golden Domers made the College Football Playoff. 

Over four seasons with Notre Dame, the defensive back recorded 104 tackles, 18 pass deflections, three interceptions, one sack, and one forced fumble. Lewis is a grad transfer who surprised several of his Irish teammates when he decided to leave this spring.

Ex-Notre Dame Football star lands at Syracuse

Lewis is the first official Irish player to leave on the first day of the transfer portal, but there’s a decent chance there could be a few more before it closes in a couple of weeks. However, with the Blue-Gold Game taking place this Saturday, anyone looking to leave will likely wait until after that game.

It’s possible guys like Steve Angeli and Kenny Minchey could depart once they see where they are sitting on the depth chart once spring practice closes.

For Lewis, it’s the chance to be a starter again. But he’ll also be able to play alongside a former Notre Dame Football teammate in Jayden Bellamy who made seven starts for the Orange in 2023.