Notre Dame surges late in transfer portal as window nears close

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- After a quiet start to the portal window, the Irish have surged in recent days. Just three days ago, Notre Dame had not landed a single transfer addition, even though the window had been open for more than a week. Now, the Irish are up to seven portal signees. Freeman said the timing was not accidental.

Freeman pointed to a steady message from Notre Dame general manager Mike Martin: “Run your own race.” He said the program did not want to panic or reach for quick fixes, and he believes the Irish added the right pieces while keeping the core of the roster intact.

Freeman addressed the quarterback room, saying Notre Dame explored adding a backup quarterback through the portal but did not find a fit that met the program’s standards. He said he is confident in the room as it stands.

One thing Freeman is especially excited about: building around quarterback C.J. Carr with offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock back guiding the offense. Freeman said Carr is already committed to film study and has been recently breaking down quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Freeman also shut down outside noise about his future, saying he intends to stay at Notre Dame.

“Everything I want and everything I need personally could be achieved right here as the head coach of this program,” Freeman said. “And so I hope this is something we have to address every year because that means we’re having a lot of success right here at Notre Dame.”