Marcus Freeman: Notre Dame’s number for transfer portal additions will be ‘forever changing’

Notre Dame has been mining the portal at a record pace relative to its history. One week into 2023, the Irish have already tied their previous high in scholarship transfer additions for a single offseason.

Quarterback Sam Hartman (Wake Forest), wide receiver Kaleb Smith (Virginia Tech), defensive back Thomas Harper (Oklahoma State) and kicker Spencer Shrader (South Florida) are headed to Notre Dame in 2023, a class of four transfers that matches the 2020 offseason’s total for the most added to one roster.

This year’s haul is likely to grow too. Transferring Utah State edge rusher Byron Vaughns wrapped up a visit to campus Sunday. Notre Dame is likely to add at least one defensive lineman, be it Vaughns or someone else (or him and someone else). A recent offer to Michigan wide receiver Andrel Anthony Jr. was a sign the Irish might not be done at receiver.

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Notre Dame’s activity in the transfer portal raises long-term curiosities: Is this offseason’s haul going to be the norm for the Irish under Marcus Freeman? Will the portal be more of a core component of roster building than it previously has been? The pursuit of and interest in more undergrad transfers like Anthony only fuels the idea.

Freeman, asked about roster building Friday on ESPN’s College Football Live, left little doubt that the portal will be a yearly source of additions. But it won’t supplant traditional recruiting as the basis for building Notre Dame’s roster. Nor does he set aside a certain number of scholarships for transfers each year.

“It will be forever changing,” Freeman said. “Ultimately, you have to get to 85 by the end of spring and we understand that. We want to continue to build the foundation of this program off high school recruiting and to develop those young people and get them into our program. But we know we can use the transfer portal to truly enhance specific needs we have.”

There will be offseasons with several needs that beg for portal help, like this one. There will be years where Notre Dame feels comfortable taking fewer transfers, like last offseason. The final read on what positions are necessary won’t be until later in or after the regular season, when most of the high school class is already committed. The full scope of who’s available won’t be clear until December as well.

“I don’t think it’s a black-and-white number,” Freeman said, “as much as it is, ‘Let’s enhance the positions we need, let’s get the right guys out of high school, and by the end of spring, we have to make sure our scholarship numbers are at 85.”

Notre Dame’s transfer pursuits in the last month have largely followed that plan.

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The Irish decided they needed a kicker and snagged one in Shrader. Smith and Harper filled needs at receiver and defensive back, respectively. The Irish needed experience and higher numbers at both. Freeman told Notre Dame’s quarterbacks right after the regular season a transfer addition was likely, but Hartman might have been too much to pass up even if the need wasn’t as pressing.

All four are grad transfers with a history of meaningful playing time and production. Few portal additions are ever a sure thing, but it’s hard to see those four not helping in some capacity.

Shrader should be viewed as the early favorite to replace departed kicker Blake Grupe. Hartman, the ACC’s all-time leader in touchdown passes, should be views as the likely starter against Navy in the 2023 opener. Smith had nearly 300 more yards than any Irish wide receiver in 2022. Harper could replace departing nickel back TaRiq Bracy and help fill holes at safety.

“We’ve always said if we’re going to get somebody out of the portal, they have to be somebody we know can come in and make an immediate impact and really help this football team win games,” Freeman said on signing day. “In high school kids, you don’t know. You don’t know who’s going to be able to come in and help you right away.”

That doesn’t shut the door on a surprise freshman or offseason breakout player from jumping ahead of a transfer addition, though. Sometimes there are players who a coaching staff will bet on as breakouts or as immediate impact freshman, such as quarterback Tyler Buchner last year or defensive end Isaiah Foskey before 2021. But not every position will have someone like that (and as Buchner’s 2022 illustrated, breakouts don’t always go to plan). A transfer helps raise the floor.

“If we’re going to go into the portal for certain positions, we have to make sure that we know, one, they’ll fit here, but two, they can have an immediate impact,” Freeman said. “That hasn’t changed based off who we’ve signed.”