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Notre Dame Lands Graduate Transfer Cornerback Nick McCloud

Notre Dame has received some needed secondary help, and it is coming from a former opponent with plenty of experience.

The Fighting Irish landed a commitment Monday afternoon from graduate transfer cornerback Nick McCloud, who comes from North Carolina State with one year of eligibility left. McCloud made 18 starts at corner for the Wolfpack from 2016-18 before missing most of 2019 due to injury.

In four years at North Carolina State, McCloud had 105 tackles, 20 passes broken up and three interceptions. He was a six-game starter in 2017 and made 11 starts in 2018. In both seasons, the Wolfpack went 9-4 and appeared in the top 25. They finished No. 23 in the final Associated Press poll of 2017.

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Former NC State cornerback and Notre Dame graduate transfer Nick McCloud
McCloud is joining Notre Dame’s secondary as a graduate transfer after making 19 career starts at North Carolina State. (The Wolfpacker)

Analysis: What Adding Grad Transfer Nick McCloud Means To Notre Dame

McCloud and North Carolina State played Notre Dame in 2017. He made four tackles and broke up one pass in Notre Dame’s 35-14 win.

Notre Dame lost a pair of important contributors at cornerback from its 2019 team. Troy Pride Jr., who started games in all four seasons on campus and was Notre Dame’s boundary corner last year, was a fourth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers. Donte Vaughn, a three-game starter last year, signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as a rookie free agent. Both of the Irish’s starting safeties, Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott, departed for the NFL as well.

The 6-1, 190-pound McCloud is expected to be in the mix to start at corner. Junior TaRiq Bracy, who had a team-best seven passes broken up in 2017, is a frontrunner for a starting job as well. Shaun Crawford started eight games in 2019 and returned for a sixth year, which was granted to him after he missed two seasons due to major injuries.

Ohio State, Virginia and Pittsburgh, among others, recruited McCloud during his transfer process. He entered the transfer portal Jan. 15. McCloud did not visit Notre Dame prior to committing, continuing a trend necessitated by COVID-19.

McCloud’s best season came in 2018, when he set career highs in tackles (51), passes defended (eight) and interceptions (two). Pro Football Focus gave him a 70.1 coverage grade, 71.2 run defense grade an 89.4 tackling grade, all career bests. He was credited with allowing 49 catches on 80 targets with one touchdown. Opponents had an NFL passer rating of 79.6 when throwing at him in 2018, per PFF.

McCloud was a three-star recruit in the 2016 class from Rock Hill, S.C., and was ranked as the No. 54 safety in the country. He initially chose North Carolina State a few days before signing day over Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and UCLA. He started the Independence Bowl against Vanderbilt as a true freshman, building momentum for his starting role the next two years.

A knee injury in the 2019 season opener against East Carolina sidelined McCloud for two months. He returned for the Wolfpack’s loss to Clemson Nov. 9, but did not play again that season. Since he played in fewer than four games and had not used a redshirt in his career, he gained another year of eligibility and chose to use it as a graduate transfer. He had seven tackles and two passes broken up in 2019.

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