Kennedy Urlacher made his college football debut count.
Notre Dame’s coaching staff let Urlacher, a freshman, loose in the third game of the season last year at Purdue. The Irish were well on their way to a 66-7 victory when Urlacher entered the game on Notre Dame’s defense and started to make his presence felt.
Urlacher finished the Purdue game with three tackles and one pass breakup. In part because he’s the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, highlights of Kennedy Urlacher’s performance went viral with millions of views online.
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The younger Urlacher, who played in 14 games for Notre Dame last season primarily on special teams, will be looking to make his debut elsewhere this fall. He intends to enter the transfer portal, a source told Inside ND Sports. The spring transfer portal window opened Wednesday and will remain open through Friday, April 25.
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The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Urlacher took defensive snaps in five games last season. He saw action on special teams in all 14 of the games he played after not being used in the first two games of last season. His primary special teams role came on kickoff coverage, which he continued to do throughout Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff run. Urlacher finished the season with 12 tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery.
Notre Dame signed Kennedy Urlacher as a four-star safety out of Chandler (Ariz.) High. Rivals ranked him as the No. 39 safety in the 2024 class. Urlacher committed to the Irish over finalists TCU, Penn State, Miami, Kansas State and Illinois.
Urlacher was among the safeties this spring vying for the open starting spot vacated by two-time All-American Xavier Watts. Notre Dame recruiting Virginia Tech’s Jalen Stroman out of the transfer portal during the offseason to compete for the job, but he was sidelined this spring to continue recovering from a broken collarbone that didn’t heal correctly. Junior-to-be Luke Talich and fellow sophomore-to-be Tae Johnson also made strong cases this spring to receive playing time.
Talich, a former walk-on, started Saturday’s Blue-Gold Game alongside returning starter Adon Shuler and recorded nine tackles and one tackle for loss. Johnson, who missed much of last season recovering from a broken foot, tallied three tackles and one pass breakup during the spring scrimmage.
It’s unclear if Urlacher played Saturday at all. He wasn’t credited with a stat and didn’t appear to be among the first six safeties to take the field.
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