Could This Be Notre Dame’s Next Starting Running Back?

Notre Dame will again have a mighty impressive amount of talent in 2026, but will need to find a solution at running back.

Yes, Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish have recruited the position extremely well in recent years, but it has a couple of all-time program greats to replace in Jeremiyah Love and JaDarian Price, both of whom have declared for the NFL draft.

Sure, rising junior Aneyas Williams is set to return, but comes off a season where he recorded just 24 rushing attempts, most of which came during blowouts.

So will Notre Dame proceed as currently constructed at running back or will Freeman and company enter the transfer portal? If the Irish do go the portal route, there is suddenly a former Fighting Irish opponent that would appear to make a lot of sense.

Hollywood Smothers Enters Transfer Portal

On Thursday, news of North Carolina State running back Hollywood Smothers plan to enter the transfer portal emerged.

Smothers ran for 936 yards this past season, finding the end zone six times on the ground. He added another 189 yards and one touchdown in the receiving department.

BREAKING: NC State starting RB Hollywood Smothers plans to enter the @TransferPortal, his agent tells @On3Sports

This season he totaled 1,128 yards and 7 TDs

Smothers, who is repped by @bnm_nil, will also explore NFL Draft optionshttps://t.co/RlUbB6Fk7q pic.twitter.com/BZPbFwd8tQ
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 18, 2025

Hollywood Smothers Tale of Two 2025s

Smothers started the 2025 season with a bang, rushing for more than 100 yards in five of the first seven games of the year. However, he didn't rush for triple digits again over the final five games of the year, and was actually held to negative yardage in seven rush attempts against Miami on November 15.

Against Notre Dame on October 11, Smothers was held to 46 yards on 12 carries and 21 receiving yards on four receptions.

For the year, his 939 rushing yards were the third-most of any ACC player, trailing only J'Mari Taylor of Virginia and Nate Sheppard of Duke.

Notre Dame Must Replace Two All-Timers

On Thursday, it was announced that both Jeremiyah Love and JaDarian Price were named consensus All-Americans.

A few times if ever, Notre Dame has been as explosive in the running game as it was behind these two. They combined to rush for over 2,000 yards and 29 touchdowns this year, while both averaged over six yards per carry.

Replacing them is virtually impossible, but making up for them is another story. Smothers might not be Love or Price, but he is a player who banged out five rushes of more than 40 yards this season.

Originally an Oklahoma recruit, Smothers is a player I'd fully expect Notre Dame to kick the tires on in the portal, and see it can get him on campus for a visit.