Notre Dame running back Skip Velotta enters NCAA transfer portal
A walk-on and team favorite inside The Gug is leaving South Bend for his final year of eligiblity. Running back Skip Velotta has entered the transfer portal, Blue & Gold confirmed Friday night. Matt Freeman of Irish Sports Daily first reported the news.
Velotta arrived at Notre Dame in 2019. He did not see the field in any games that year. He made his first appearance for the Irish in a 52-0 win over South Florida on Sept. 19, 2020. As a junior in 2021, Velotta played in four games on special teams. That’s a role he thrived in for his final three seasons with the team.
In 2022, Velotta played in all 13 Notre Dame games. He logged 54 kick return plays that season in addition to 19 kick coverage plays and one appearance on the punt return team according to Pro Football Focus. His total special teams play count went down from 74 last year to 50 this year according to PFF. Forty five of those came on kick coverage, and the other five were on punt return.
In fall camp, the Notre Dame running back room was bruised and battered. Starter Audric Estimé was banged up, and in one particular practice Gi’Bran Payne rolled his ankle. This was back when Jadarian Price was still taking it relatively slow coming back from his Achilles injury rehab. That evening, Velotta got time to shine with the ones and twos. He made good use of his time working with Notre Dame’s Saturday stalwarts, resembling a scholarship player in multiple instances.
Velotta is a Midwest product hailing from Cleveland. He went to St. Ignatius. He wouldn’t be the first Notre Dame walk-on to transfer out and become a contributor at a smaller school as a last hoorah in college football.
Notre Dame has had 11 scholarship players enter the transfer portal since the regular season finale at Stanford on Nov. 25. Velotta is the first from the running back room. Estimé has yet to announce if he will skip his senior season for the NFL Draft, and Payne, Price and rising sophomore Jeremiyah Love have all stayed put for the time being. They’re expected to still be Irish next fall.
Four of the Notre Dame scholarship transfer portal entrants were from the wide receiver room. Notre Dame fired wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey after graduate student Chris Tyree entered the portal but before Tobias Merriweather, Braylon James and Rico Flores Jr. entered their names in there.
The Irish have received commitments from two transfer portal players in this cycle; cornerback Jordan Clark of Arizona State and wide receiver Kris Mitchell of Florida International. Notre Dame has hosted multiple other portal entrants, including Duke quarterback Riley Leonard, on recruiting visits this week.
The Irish’s 2024 roster is far from finalized with more in and out expected in the coming weeks.
