What Notre Dame STILL Needs in the Transfer Portal

Notre Dame and the transfer portal - man, talk about the ultimate letdown...

I remember being an impressionable kid and having a slight interest in horse racing. No, I wasn't betting on the ponies at a young age, but the Kentucky Derby would come around each spring and because I hadn't yet seen it, I thought seeing a horse win the Triple Crown would be so cool.

Long story short, the years went on and no horse could complete the task. Seemingly horse after horse would win the Derby and the Preakness Stakes, only to lose, sometimes in the most heartbreaking fashion, in the Belmont.

That was, until the Spring of 2015. That's when the famed pony American Pharoah took over the Sport of Kings (insert eyeroll here) and accomplished the Triple Crown feat, something that had not been done in my previous 29 years to that point.

For much of childhood I thought it'd be awesome to see a horse finally complete the trifecta, but when AP (we'll call him) started to pull away down the homestretch at the Belmont, my only thought was, "Man, this is doing absolutely nothing for me".

I thought I'd be happy for the horse and watch all the celebration for years, only to realize I could not have cared less about the feat as that horse galloped home. What a disappointment.

Which brings me to Notre Dame football and the transfer portal.

Notre Dame's Portal Start Has Been Just as Disappointing

When Notre Dame was shafted out of the College Football Playoff, it opted to not play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Instead, a head start on the off-season appeared to be the task at hand, with the transfer portal being a key part of that.

Fast forward a month as we're now nearing a week of the portal being open and Notre Dame has only seen players enter it, with nobody yet committing to the Fighting Irish.

Pop-Tarts mascots during the Pop-Tarts Bowl — Dec 27, 2025; Orlando, FL, USA; Pop-Tarts mascots celebrate with BYU Cougars after beating Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Pop-Tarts Bowl at Camping World Stadium. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Don't get it confused, Notre Dame was never going to be like Texas Tech or Indiana and take 13 and 11 players (with work still left to do for both) this cycle, but you'd have thought by now at least one player would have committed to play for Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish.

Perhaps Freeman and company are being a bit picky, but you can't shape this as anything other than a disappointment to date. While other teams continue to land player after player, Notre Dame sits with no additions.

Notre Dame Land in Flux with Slow Portal Start

Although I'm guessing calm is winning the day more in the Notre Dame football offices than it is in online message boards and social media, things are clearly far from great in good old Notre Dame Land.

Marcus Freeman has become the butt of some jokes online, some of which are rather hilarious (see below), while fans and media have grown a bit antsy.

Marcus Freeman since the transfer portal opened up pic.twitter.com/zwwB0lzmrB
— The Irish Network (@IrishNet) January 6, 2026

Heck, it's gotten so stressful that even some message boarders are trying to start beef with the Notre Dame media members.

"OUR PETS' HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!"

But really, are things that bad for Notre Dame currently?

Notre Dame Still in Great Shape for 2026 Season Despite Portal Issues

I truly think a lot of Notre Dame fans are confusing frustration over the lack of happenings in the transfer portal to date with there being a real issue.

There aren't many teams that can say it, but Notre Dame is certainly one that, can be very picky in the transfer portal.

A huge overpay for a certain player? Notre Dame doesn't have to throw money at the problem like a Texas Tech or others do, because the Irish have recruited and more importantly, developed at such a high level.

That said, there are a couple things that need to be done.

Notre Dame still desperately needs help at defensive tackle and wide receiver. Simply put: the transfer portal can't close without Notre Dame adding multiple players to each position group. Who those ultimately end up being remain to be seen, but perhaps the defensive tackle issue is partly solved by moving Bryce Young inside next season (don't shoot the messenger, I'm just thinking out loud here).

When Marco learns he has to be the starting 3-tech at Notre Dame pic.twitter.com/EfoaIURDYa
— Knute Rockne (@Rocknes_Ghost) January 7, 2026

The other thing Notre Dame will have to do is reshape its recruiting philosophy for the transfer portal. It didn't take long to see that Indiana and a few others made it a priority to get targets on campus immediately, and then not let them leave campus without a commitment.

Notre Dame went about things like they do when recruiting high schoolers typically, trying to set up the last visit. As you can tell by how things have gone, many of those "last visits" never wound up taking place because the player committed elsewhere before.

That's not something that can be changed this off-season, instead addressed and changed next time around.

That all said, I'm not in the same state of panic that others seem to be with Notre Dame's lack of results in the portal this window. It's been disappointing as it was seemingly hyped to be a major chance for Notre Dame to make a splash, but its hardly an end of sorts.

To date, Georgia, the two-time reigning SEC Champion has one commitment in the transfer portal this off-season. Do you think Kirby Smart is panicking like crazy down in Athens?

Honestly, the hire of Charlie Partridge as defensive line coach will go significantly further for this football program than any one player in this 2026 transfer portal class will.

Yes, there are holes Notre Dame must fill. While we're at it, if you see someone capable of kicking a 35 yard field goal, perhaps send them the way of South Bend, but overall, the Irish remain in a strong position for 2026 despite how feels in this empty-to-date portal window.