Exactly one week before Notre Dame’s spring semester and winter workouts are set to begin next Tuesday, the Irish football team added elite speed to their roster.
After a weekend visit, Marshall All-America kick returner Jayden Harrison on Tuesday committed to play his sixth and final college season at Notre Dame, becoming the program record-tying seventh incoming transfer so far in the offseason cycle.
With perhaps more to come. Northwestern defensive back Rod Heard II is pondering his next move after visiting ND this weekend.
Harrison, a 5-11, 195-pound wide receiver from Nashville, Tenn., was No. 2 nationally in kickoff return average in 2023, at 30.7 yards on 23 returns, with two of them going for touchdowns. At wide receiver for the Thundering Herd this past season, he had a career-high 28 catches for 410 yards (14.6 avg.) and a TD.
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He was a first-team All-American as a kick returner on the Walter Camp All-America team, and he entered the transfer portal as a grad transfer last Thursday, two days after the final day for underclassmen to submit their names. Grad transfers are not subject to the prescribed transfer portal windows.
Three of ND’s seven incoming transfers are wide receivers, giving the Irish six newcomers at that position and 11 total wideouts on the 2024 spring roster.
Harrison began his college career at Vanderbilt in 2019, signing with the hometown Commodores out of Pearl-Cohn Magnet High, where he was a member of the Tennessee state championship 4x100-meter relay team and Nashville city champ in the 200.
Harrison, who reportedly chose the Irish over Colorado for his 2024 destination, redshirted as a freshman at Vandy, then played in nine games with one start in 2020 before transferring to Marshall after that season.
He had three catches for 38 yards for Marshall in its 26-21 upset of Notre Dame in the 2022 Irish home opener.
Harrison was a three-star prospect out of high school with offers from Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Louisville, Mississippi State and Jackson State in addition to Vanderbilt.
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