Irish running back Logan Diggs joins the transfer portal parade

Earlier this month, Logan Diggs laid out the pride he takes in the intermittent adversity he has overcome in his first two seasons as a Notre Dame running back and all that comes with it.

“It’s tough, but that’s what you sign up for when you come to Notre Dame,” he said. “You’re going to get that challenge, and I just embrace that challenge.”

And now he apparently will embrace it elsewhere.

Mere hours after junior quarterback Tyler Buchner landed at Alabama in his transfer process, Diggs, from the same 2021 recruiting class, began his own.

The Irish, looking to add to the roster in the coming days and weeks, are at 82 scholarship players, three below the NCAA maximum. The transfer portal closes for new submissions until next December at the end of the day Sunday.

Notre Dame’s second-leading rusher (820 yards on a team-high 165 carries and four TDs) leaves behind a running back position group teeming with both proven production — fellow junior Audric Estimé, and promise — sophomores Jadarian Price and Gi’Bran Payne, and June-arriving freshman Jeremiyah Love (No. 129 nationally regardless of position, per Rivals).

Estimé is ND’s leading returning rusher with 920 yards on 160 carries and 11 TDs in 2022. Price is coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon that sidelined him all of last season, and with a full-recovery timeline of June.

Payne garnered two carries for five yards during a freshman season in 2022 that goes down as a redshirt year. Love is the highest-ranked of all of them coming out of high school.

The Irish have a safety net in senior Chris Tyree, ND’s third-leading rusher in 2022 and who moved to slot receiver this spring.

Diggs didn’t play in Saturday’s Blue-Gold Game and missed roughly half of the contact work in spring practice with an undisclosed lower-body injury.

The 6-foot, 214-pound Boutte, La., product accrued 10 catches for 211 yards and two TDs to go along with his rushing production in 2022.

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He came to ND as an early enrollee and made a strong early impression.

“Coming in early I had a really good fall camp, really good summer, was supposed to play immediately,” Diggs recalled earlier this month of the 2021 season. “I had the opportunity that I was blessed with to be able to play my freshman year.

“So, I came in and was supposed to play week 1, and I ended up getting sick (flu). I ended up not playing until [Game 6 versus Virginia Tech]. That was hard, working so hard in the offseason. You finally feel like you got there, and there’s one step backwards.

“That was a long process of me trying to battle back mentally, but over time the people here and the culture around here, it embraces you. So, it was real easy for me to snap back out of it. When it was time for my number to be called, I was ready to go out there and compete.”

He ended up as Notre Dame’s third-leading rusher in 2021, behind 1,000-yard rusher Kyren Williams and Buchner in his niche role. Diggs amassed 230 yards on 52 carries and three TDs in eight games.

And now, with two seasons of eligibility remaining, he’s a memory.

For more information on Notre Dame's roster, check out these items from Inside ND Sports:

2023 Scholarship Chart

2023 Depth Chart Projection

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