Notre Dame Adjusts Strategy On Graduate Transfers
In the spring of 2019, former Virginia Tech wide receiver Eric Kumah was looking for a new home. He flirted with Notre Dame, putting the Fighting Irish in his top six of transfer destinations and visiting at the end of February.
After evaluating its roster throughout the spring, the Notre Dame coaching staff seemed pleased with their 2019 wide receiver corp as it was and passed on Kumah, who eventually went to Old Dominion.
This proved to be a wise decision.
With the Monarchs, Kumah played in just four games, and caught 18 passes for 192 yards and no touchdowns before taking a redshirt due to knee pain.
Not only did the Fighting Irish pass on Kuma, but with scholarship numbers high the program didn't even seriously pursue another graduate transfer for 2019.
That perspective has changed.
The coaching staff has been shopping down the transfer portal isle for 2020, checking the shelves for college graduates with immediate eligibility.
By Jan. 1, the Fighting Irish earned commitments from two graduate transfers out of the Big Ten in Northwestern wide receiver Ben Skowronek and Ohio State safety Isaiah Pryor.
Two weeks ago, Notre Dame picked up another defensive back in North Carolina State corner Nick McCloud. Then on Thursday evening, the coaching staff added its fourth and, presumably, final graduate transfer of the offseason in Stanford running back Trevor Speights.
In total, that is four graduate transfers on the books, an incredibly high number for a program that hasn’t signed one since prior to the 2017 season.
What has led to such a monumental shift in strategy when it comes to signing graduate transfers?
It is hard to say without speaking directly to head coach Brian Kelly.
It could be because Notre Dame just happened to find an abnormally high number of graduate transfers that fit culturally and athletically? Or perhaps the program has entered a “win now” mentality with a three-year starter at quarterback and the most experienced offensive line in the county?
It is worth noting that all four graduate transfer additions play either an offensive or defensive skill position, which is generally the areas where Notre Dame is lacking. Even if Notre Dame hits on 50 percent and two of them become major contributors, that is a big coup for the staff.
The problem is that under Kelly, Notre Dame has hit on a much smaller percentage of its graduate transfers.
By my count, Notre Dame has taken six graduate transfers since 2013: walk-on fullback Keenan Sweeney (transferred from Auburn) in 2018; wide receivers Freddy Canteen (Michigan) and Cam Smith (Arizona State) in 2017; safety Avery Sebastian (Cal) in 2014; cornerback Cody Riggs (Florida) in 2014 and punter Alex Wulfeck (Wake Forest) in 2013.
Of the four scholarship skill players, only Riggs was a major contributor. He finished his only season with the Fighting Irish with 36 tackles, three passes broken up, an interception and a forced fumble in 11 games.
Mostly due to injuries, the other three played in 11 games combined and were unreliable.
Would the Notre Dame coaching staff be satisfied with a similar level of productivity from the most recent batch of graduate transfers?
My guess is no, and there is some worry that history may repeat itself. Of the four new graduate transfers, only Pryor hasn’t missed a significant portion of a season due to injury (though Skowronek was on campus in the spring and appears to be fully recovered from his 2019 injury).
At this point, it is impossible to predict how each will do in 2020, but it does seem likely that their performance will, at least in part, dictate how the staff looks at graduate transfers going forward.
After three straight in Canteen, Smith and Sebastian, Notre Dame basically avoided graduate transfers for back-to-back offseasons.
Will that happen again?
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