Cornerback Jaden Mickey will not finish the 2024 season with Notre Dame football.
Head coach Marcus Freeman announced Mickey's decision to redshirt this season and enter the transfer portal during Freeman's press conference Monday. Mickey intends to transfer after graduating from the university following the spring semester. The 6-foot, 182-pound Mickey confirmed the decision with a statement on social media.
"Coaches, teammates, staff members, and supporters: I can't put into words how grateful I am for how you have loved me and my family," Mickey wrote. "Every up and down was worth it and all the my younger self could have asked for. With a heavy heart, I will be redshirting this year with plans on transferring after I graduate in the spring. This isn't risk, this is faith!"
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Mickey played 82 defensive snaps in the first games of the season, which was third among outside cornerbacks. Mickey rotated into the game at times behind starters Benjamin Morrison and Christian Gray. Mickey totaled three tackles and one pass breakup this season.
Mickey played in 24 games with three starts in his first two seasons at Notre Dame. He tallied 23 tackles, six tackles for loss, one interception returned for a touchdown and two pass breakups prior to this season.
Mickey famously played in last year's Sun Bowl despite his mother, Nilka, dying the night prior to the game after a public cancer diagnosis.
“It’s our brother," Morrison said of Mickey following the 40-8 win over Oregon State in the Sun Bowl. "I came in with him, so it’s just a testament to who he is as a man. [Mickey] pushed me, made me a better player. So, I’m just here to support him any way I can. I just love that family, love him.”
Freeman expressed Monday a similar sentiment of support for Mickey.
“Everybody’s gonna have an opinion, myself included. But it’s not our opinion that really matters. Jaden Mickey made a decision that he felt was best for him," Freeman said. "So for me to do anything other than support him, it’s selfish. I’m not in his shoes. I don’t know what’s going on in his life. This is what he said is best for him and his future, so it would be selfish of me to have selfish thoughts and opinions about the decision he’s making.
"I wish him the best of luck. I love him. He’s a great young man that’s been through a lot. He’ll go and do great things. It’s not our position or anybody else’s to make an opinion about what type of decision Jaden Mickey made. It’s a decision that he wanted to make for him, and I support him in his next endeavors.”
Without Mickey, Notre Dame will turn to a pair of freshman cornerbacks to be next up on the depth chart: former four-star recruit Leonard Moore and former three-star recruit Karson Hobbs. Moore played in all four games this season, including three on defense. He recorded five tackles in those games. Hobbs played for the second time against Miami (Ohio) and recorded the first pass breakup of his career.
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