Misses Stand Out, But Irish’s 2018 Class Transfer Rate Matches Prior Years
After three seasons on campus, Notre Dame’s 27-man 2018 signing class has lost a third of its members to the transfer portal.
Starting with defensive back Noah Boykin’s departure in January 2019 and now with receiver Micah Jones’ Monday exit, nine 2018 signees will finish their careers elsewhere. At one point, it appeared that number would be 10, but safety Houston Griffith decided to return to the program three weeks after hitting the portal.
As a percentage of transfers, it’s about normal. All but one class from 2014-18 had at least 33 percent of its members play at another school. (The exception is 2016, which still had a 30 percent transfer rate). But the high exit volume of high-profile recruits who made little impact stands out. From that perspective, 2018 is especially disappointing for the program and coaching staff.
Five of the nine defections were former Rivals250 recruits, and none made a meaningful on-field impact. Only two of those five, quarterback Phil Jurkovec and linebacker Jack Lamb, recorded stats during their Irish tenures. Jones, the most recent to leave, was the No. 192 recruit in the country yet did not catch a pass in three years.
There is, though, one more stat head coach Brian Kelly wants to point out. A number that underscores Notre Dame’s uptick in raw number of departures isn't cause for alarm, indicative of rampant internal strife or abnormal on the whole.
“Those kids who are transferring already have their degree,” Kelly told Rivals’ Mike Farrell on National Signing Day. “They’re going to get their degree in three years and then have two seasons of competition left. For the portal, we’re not worried about that. Those kids have done their job; they came to Notre Dame, got their degree and if they’re not getting the playing time they want, then they should go find a place where they want to go play.”
As Kelly pointed out, the large majority of Notre Dame’s recent departures are grad transfers who weren’t starters or disgruntled underclassmen. Of the 12 players who have left the program and entered the portal since August, nine of them are on track to graduate or have already graduated. The exceptions are 2019 signees John Olmstead and Isaiah Rutherford and 2018 signee Ja'Mion Franklin.
Going further back, 41 players from the 2014-18 classes have transferred out of the program. Of those, 24 left as graduates who were immediately eligible at their next school. Four of the 17 non-grad transfers were players dismissed or suspended from the team (WR Jalen Guyton, RB Deon McIntosh, WR K.J. Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes).
The other 13 players who were not grad transfers:
• 2014: DL Jhonny Williams (Toledo, Grand Valley State), LB Nile Sykes (Indiana), LB Kolin Hill (Texas Tech)
• 2015: OL Tristen Hoge (BYU), DB Mykelti Williams (JUCO, Northern Illinois)
• 2016: DB Spencer Perry (South Alabama, Northern Iowa), OL Parker Boudreaux (UCF)
• 2017: DE Jonathon MacCollister (UCF)
• 2018: DT Ja'Mion Franklin (Duke) DB Noah Boykin (UMass) DB Derrik Allen (Georgia Tech), OL Luke Jones (Arkansas), QB Phil Jurkovec (Boston College).
On a similar note, Notre Dame has not taken an undergrad transfer since Alohi Gilman in 2017. Since the end of the 2016 season, the Irish have accepted commitments from eight transfers.
The 24 Notre Dame graduate transfers:
• 2014: CB Nick Watkins (Houston), DL Pete Mokwuah (Wagner), WR Corey Holmes (Purdue, Morgan State), WR/RB Justin Brent (Nevada), DE Jay Hayes (Georgia)
• 2015: CB Ashton White (Buffalo), DL Elijah Taylor (Eastern Kentucky), WR C.J. Sanders (SMU), DL Brandon Tiassum (Urbana), QB Brandon Wimbush (UCF), DL Micah Dew-Treadway (Minnesota)
• 2016: LB Jonathan Jones (Toledo), S Devin Studstill (South Florida), LB D.J. Morgan (UConn)
• 2017: OL Colin Grunhard (Kansas), WR/RB Jafar Armstrong (Illinois), DE Kofi Wardlow (Charlotte), WR/DB Isaiah Robertson (N/A), LB Jordan Genmark-Heath (UCLA), WR Michael Young (Cincinnati)
• 2018: WR Micah Jones (N/A), LB Jack Lamb (Colorado), DE Ovie Oghoufo (Texas), RB Jahmir Smith (Appalachian State)
Four of those five classes had at least 55 percent of their transfers leave as graduates.
“We give them all they can to find another landing spot,” Kelly said. “No one is leaving here early because they didn’t play; they came here knowing that they wanted to get a degree and play for a championship. After they get their degree, if they want to transfer and move on, we’ll help them 100 percent of the time.”
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