Notre Dame cornerback Chance Tucker to enter NCAA transfer portal

Notre Dame cornerback Chance Tucker will enter the transfer portal when it opens on Jan. 2, his representatives told One’s Pete Nakos.

Tucker, entering his sixth season of college football, has one year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer. He earned a medical redshirt after missing the entire 2024 season with a torn ACL suffered in fall camp of that year, and he suffered another season-ending knee injury in November after playing in four games in 2025.

“Chance, this is his second one, so he’ll have to decide if football is something he’ll want to continue to do,” Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said Nov. 24 after announcing Tucker’s injury. “I mean, it’s just tough — five years and has really been a valuable member of our team.”

Tucker played sparingly during five seasons at Notre Dame, and that was not likely to change in 2026 after back-to-back serious injuries. Rising junior Leonard Moore will return, and rising senior Christian Gray could as well. Those two would start, while Mark Zackery IV, Dallas Golden, Karson Hobbs and even incoming freshmen Khary Adams and Aydan Pouncey would compete for spots on the cornerback depth chart.

Tucker will leave Notre Dame with both an undergraduate and a graduate degree, setting himself up for life after football.

Chance Tucker’s Notre Dame football career summary

A product of Crespi (Calif.) Carmelite, Tucker made his collegiate debut during the 2022 season against Boston College on Nov. 19. He redshirted as a true freshman in 2021.

In 2023, Tucker played 34 snaps between four games. His heaviest workloads came in Week 1 against Tennessee State on Sept. 2 and the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl against Oregon State on Dec. 12. He played 12 snaps each in those outings, finishing with two of his three career tackles in the postseason.

Tucker appeared in five other contests, seeing time on Notre Dame’s kick coverage, punt return and field goal block units.

After missing all of 2024, Tucker played against Arkansas, NC State, Pitt and Syracuse for Notre Dame this past season. He totaled 36 snaps in those four games, but he did not record a statistic.

Tucker was a three-star recruit who ranked as the No. 51 wide receiver nationally and No. 28 prospect in California in the 2021 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He chose the Irish over scholarship offers from Colorado, Northwestern, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.