SOUTH BEND – Thankfully, no crystal trophy was awarded to the college football champion in the inaugural Winter Transfer Portal (WTPW).
Stop that dance, Brian Kelly.
LSU may have dominated the highly subjective “rankings” as it grabbed 11 rushing touchdowns during the six-week frenzy that ran from Dec. 5 to Jan. 18, but there still won’t be a victory parade for Kelly’s Tigers.
The same caveat applies to the rest of the so-called top-five programs loaded with transfer talent, according to the 247Sports Composite player ratings: Florida State (nine commitments), Auburn (13), Colorado (23) and USC (11).
Honorable mention goes to Arizona State, where newly hired coach Kenny Dillingham has grabbed a whopping 26 transfers, including former Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne. The Sun Devils took 12th placeth about reviewing employment sites.
Notre Dame? The Irish, surprisingly, didn’t even make the WTPW Top 25.
Apparently, adding the ACC’s career leader in touchdown passes to your running back room isn’t going to move the grade meter this time of year.
Even with the smiling, bearded face of Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman appearing on social media posts from the Notre Dame locker room, the Irish needed a late ranking adjustment to jump from 56th all the way to 26th.
At least ESPN gave the Irish an overall grade of A-minus for their work on the portal.
Which means… well, nothing, really.
Transfer portal:Hartman in hand, how Notre Dame football manages the transfer portal while minimizing risk
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First, the 45-day deadline for accelerated eligibility applied only to lower grades. Graduate transfers can enter the portal throughout the year and meet the requirements for the upcoming season.
Those same lower grades, it should be noted, just had to start the portal process by the January 18 deadline. They can keep playing the music portal as long as they want, although the chairs/scholarships tend to disappear.
Additionally, under the NCAA’s latest half-hearted attempt to fix the broken system, there will be another 15-day transfer portal window beginning May 1. This gives all those players disappointed with their bite numbers in the various spring games a chance to test the market and start the move frenzy all over again.
“Everybody wants more and more and more,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said Dec. 10. “I was the coordinator who said, ‘Hey, I just want more – more!’ and not thinking about the big picture. It’s a challenge because we (as coaches) are greedy. You always say, ‘Give me more. Give me more.’ But we have to understand that we have a (limited) number of scholarships.”
In terms of sheer volume, perhaps Notre Dame’s six-man transfer paled in comparison to those programs with open-door policies. In terms of disciplined, transparent shopping, Freeman’s second offseason dip in shark-infested waters has been efficient, if not always successful.
Notre Dame wanted an upgrade at quarterback, even before Pyne’s emotional departure and Tyler Buchner’s gritty, MVP-worthy performance in the Gator Bowl. In Hartman, the previous year’s Gator Bowl MVP, the Irish seemingly found the ideal blend of experience, production and personality.
How mature is Hartman? He turns 24 at the end of July, making him older than several active NFL running backs, including playoff-eligible Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars) and Trey Lance (49ers), as well as Sam Howell (Commanders) and Zach Wilson (Jets).
In other words: When Tommy Rees, Hartman’s new offensive coordinator, returned to his alma mater as running backs coach in January 2017, Rees was four months away from turning 25.
Buchner? He will only turn 21 in November.
Targeted Addons
The same logical approach guided the remaining added transfers.
Notre Dame needed help on defense, even before learning that Justin Ademilola would join record-setting running back Isaiah Foskey in this year’s NFL Draft. In Ohio State transfer Javontae Jean-Baptiste, the Irishman found a productive reserve hungry to prove what he could do with more minutes.
Notre Dame needed help at safety and slot coverage, especially after learning that Brandon Joseph, last year’s headliner transfer from Northwestern, will continue his stated plan to go pro after a one-year layoff.
In Oklahoma State construction transfer Thomas Harper, the Irish have added a veteran in 43 varsity games over the past four seasons. Harper, who has missed six of his last seven games with the Cowboys due to nagging injuries, is a versatile playmaker with 93 career tackles, two interceptions, six pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Harper’s interceptions came against Baylor (2022) and Texas Christian (2020).
With Braden Lenzy gone to work, Notre Dame needed experience at wide receiver, even after Matt Salerno’s surprising decision to return for a sixth season. In Virginia Tech transfer Kaleb Smith, the Irish added a big-bodied target with a 41-inch vertical leap, 9 3/4-inch arms and a ridiculous catch radius, thanks to a 33-inch arm length.
Notre Dame needed help at placekicker with Arkansas State graduate transfer Blake Grupe ineligible. In South Florida graduate transfer Spencer Shrader, the Irish added a game-tested weapon with a career-high 52-yard field goal and a touchback rate (80.7%) that ranked fourth nationally among starting punters last season. striker.
Shrader also has a 22-yard touchdown on a fake field goal against Connecticut (2019) as well as a 7-yard reception, giving special teams coordinator Brian Mason another game-changing chess piece.
Finally, Notre Dame needed depth at punter and receiver after Harvard transfer Jon Sot finished his one-year tour in South Bend. In the transfer of Ben Krimm from Penn City, the Irish added an experienced insurance policy for redshirt freshman Bryce McFerson, who was slowed by a groin injury last fall.
Like a responsible shopper on a busy Saturday afternoon at Costco, Freeman stuck to his list and resisted the temptation to clutter his cart with discounted items he didn’t really need.
Most importantly, he got his quarterback.
Follow Notre Dame football writer Mike Berardino on Twitter @MikeBerardino.
