Notre Dame Looking For, Finding Right Fits From Transfer Portal
Notre Dame remains the only team still alive in the College Football Playoff that hasn’t seen a player enter the Transfer Portal since the end of the regular season.
“Every individual in our program makes their own decisions,” head coach Marcus Freeman said last week. “Every person in our program understands how valuable they are to us, being in this position that we’re in and we need them. We need every single person in our program to reach the goals that we have.
“I think when you feel like you have value and you’re a part of what we’re accomplishing you want to continue to stay with this team and see it through.”
Freeman had a similar message on Monday, when asked what the Irish would do without defensive lineman Rylie Mills heading into the Quarterfinals and a New Year’s Day matchup against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
”You don’t prepare them in a week,” Freeman said. “They’ve been preparing every single day all season long. That’s why every rep you do in a practice matters and is evaluated. You don’t know when that rep is going to be thrust against Georgia.
“You have to prepare in a way in practice that you’re improving, but you’re ready if your number is called. We have a lot of guys who prepare that way and who will have a bigger role.”
While Notre Dame will have a deep roster thanks to the lack of attrition via the Transfer Portal, the Irish have already been adding to it this month, signing former Alabama defensive back DeVonta Smith and landing a commitment from Virginia receiver Malachi Fields on Monday.
Still, as Notre Dame Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua said last week, there’s a balance to adding portal guys and high school guys…and it’s not an even balance.
“I think Marcus says it best, that Notre Dame has and will continue to major in high school students,” Bevacqua said. “That's the key for Notre Dame. That's the key for our football team, and that extends to all of our programs.
“But you’ve got to be opportunistic. You can't turn a blind eye to the transfer market, to the transfer portal.”
Bevacqua noted that there is a process to a transfer gaining admittance to Notre Dame; sometimes it happens quickly, but there is always a process.
“Many conversations have occurred to say, ‘OK, this particular student-athlete can be admitted into Notre Dame and can join the football program,’” Bevacqua said. “Now at Notre Dame it’s never going to be a huge number of people, again, because Marcus wants to major in high school athletes coming up through the system, entering as freshmen or early enrollees, becoming part of Notre Dame, part of the culture.
“But to his credit and to Notre Dame's credit, I think so far we've really done remarkably well with the undergrad transfers, which have been more limited than the grad transfers that have come in.”
Bevacqua pointed to Freeman, General Manager Chad Bowden and Deputy Athletics Director Ron Powlus for helping that process run thoroughly.
“What program he's coming from, what school he's coming from, what's his major?” Bevacqua said of what the key questions that need to be answered. “Where is he in terms of credits earned? What were the types of classes?
“You have to produce the syllabi for every class you've taken over the course of your college career, but be opportunistic. Get the right people here that can fit into Notre Dame and make us better.”
Bevacqua pointed to quarterback Riley Leonard and receiver Beaux Collins, who both transferred in prior to this season, as examples of those right people.
“People who have come into the program and have just fit in, not just on the football field, but with Notre Dame, understanding what the academic rigors are, the academic requirements, understanding the culture of the team that Coach Freeman has put together, and that's so very important to him.”
And apparently, Fields and Smith fit that same mold in Freeman’s eyes.
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