Indiana Football Secures Notre Dame DE Joshua Burnham in Transfer Portal

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana football has added to its defensive line with help from an in-state foe.

The Hoosiers nabbed a commitment from former Notre Dame edge rusher Joshua Burnham, who announced his decision Sunday night in a social media post. Burnham has one year of eligibility remaining.

Burnham is the seventh member of Indiana's transfer portal class thus far, joining Wisconsin safety Preston Zachman, Michigan State wide receiver Nick Marsh, TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi, Cincinnati safety Jiquan Sanks and Boston College running back Turbo Richard.

Meet Joshua Burnham

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Burnham played in 40 games with 15 starts across four seasons at Notre Dame. He collected 65 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss and six sacks for the Fighting Irish.

A consensus four-star recruit, Burnham played in only one game as a true freshman in 2022, making one tackle and a half-tackle for loss. His role grew in 2023, as he appeared in 13 games and made his first career start while finishing with 18 tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack.

Burnham's most productive season came as a redshirt sophomore in 2024. He made 10 starts in 14 appearances while registering 30 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and one forced fumble.

The Traverse City, Mich., native played in each of Notre Dame's 12 games this season and made four starts. He totaled 16 tackles, six tackles for loss and a career-best three sacks in 2025.

Indiana landed one of its most critical transfer portal adds last offseason from Notre Dame in center Pat Coogan, a game captain in each game this season who's become a vocal leader for the Hoosiers.

What Burnham's commitment means to Indiana football

Indiana has a vacancy on its defensive line depth chart entering 2026, as seniors Mikail Kamara, Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley will be out of eligibility after this season and underclassmen Andrew and William DePaepe announced Jan. 2 they're transferring out of the program.

The Hoosiers added another pass rusher to their portal class earlier Sunday afternoon in Kansas State's Tobi Osunsanmi. But at 250 pounds, Osunsanmi played more outside linebacker than defensive end for the Wildcats, and he may serve better at the Hoosiers' "stud" position.

Burnham, meanwhile, better matches the weight profile of Indiana's preferred field defensive end in the 260-pound Kamara.

Fit and schematics aside, Burnham's move from South Bend to Bloomington has in-state implications — and the Hoosiers can only hope Burnham will be as valuable on and off the field as Coogan, who left Notre Dame and became the Rose Bowl Offensive MVP less than one year later.